Naruto: Anime's Apart
by Uncommon Guru
Summary: His world is gone. The Heartless consumed it, and left him with near nothing. Not one to take that lying down, Naruto will stand and travel through worlds, fighting those who took his home while protecting others and their worlds. Keyblade in hand, and travelling with the remnants of his home, he will fight to the Heart of Darkness to reclaim all that he's lost.
1. Dive into the Heart

Alright, like I said, here's my Naruto X Anime's crossover, Anime's Apart. It's somewhat of a Kingdom Heart's crossover, only instead of Disney worlds, it's using anime worlds with Naruto as the one who travels to them. Those who've read my prequel know I've asked for input on skills that Naruto (and his 'team' who you'll see next chapter) will pick up and use. Since no one was told the team, feel free to add more ideas after you've seen who they are.

Please note, that I picked Naruto characters for his team. That's for plot mostly, as well as giving some fun skills to the characters.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Or Kingdom Hearts. Or a Keyblade. Or...well, any of the anime's in this crossover. Regardless, I hope you all have fun with my story.

* * *

**Naruto: Anime's Apart**

_Dive into the Heart_

"I've been having these weird thoughts lately…like, is any of this real, or not?"

Slowly opening his eyes, he slowly blinked as he tried to take in his surroundings. He was underwater, light barely reaching him as he felt like he was being dragged into the depths. Yet he was relaxed. This was supposed to happen.

As he felt something press against his back, he closed his eyes and winced as he lurched forwards. When he felt his feet touching the ground, his eyes slowly opened. As his eyes opened, they widened as he realized he was standing in water, his mind recognizing the area around him as Nami no Kuni, the Land of Waves.

Slowly raising his eyes, he stared at the back of someone's head, the sun behind his head causing him to squint as he tried to make the person out. Thankfully, a large wave came up in front of them and shielded the sun which allowed him a good look at the back of the boy as a friend. Recognizing him, he called out to him happily, until he realized that the wave was getting unnaturally high and was coming straight at the two of them.

Shouting louder, his voice seemed muted, though the boy did turn around. As the boy held out his hand, the wave crashed on them and once more he was underwater. Blinking and shaking his head, he was more than somewhat surprised to see his friend standing resolute in the water, the colossal crash not having fazed him in the slightest. Once more, a hand was extended to him, waiting for him to grab hold.

Pushing against the waves, he reached out, stretching every limit he could imagine to reach him. For a brief moment, he was out of reach, almost like he was taunting him. Then, his hand gripped his friend's, and he was pulled forward.

Dragged by his hand, he burst out of the water and found himself somewhere else entirely. If he had to try to place it, it would be in Konohagakure no Sato, his home of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Turning to what he figured was the east, he smiled at the familiar heads of the Hokage Monument; the memorial for the four strongest ninja in the village who'd passed on. As he looked up, a small figure fell from the clouds among a shower of meteors, heading at high speeds towards the ground below. Taking a closer look at them, his eyes widened in confusion.

It was a boy with blond hair, an orange/blue tracksuit with a white high collar, a cream colored pouch on the back of his belt, and a blue hiate on his head. Despite not being anywhere close to him, he knew that the hiate had a metal plate with the leaf-like symbol etched into it, as well as three whisker-like marks on either cheek. And were his eyes not closed, he knew that they would be a sharp blue.

He knew all of this, because he was looking at himself.

Slowly stepping forward, he narrowed his eyes as he got closer. If he was falling from the sky, how was here standing here as well? What was going on? How could this be-

Any more thoughts he might've had were cut off as his foot no longer took touched ground and he found himself falling forward. Falling head first, he glanced at where his feet had once been and found a chill running down his spine. The ground was no longer ground, it was the sky. Somehow he had stepped into the middle of the air and was now in the same position as the falling him had once been.

Surprisingly, he was once more relaxed. This was supposed to happen. Closing his eyes, he waited to wake up. That's what normally happened; you fall in your sleep, then just as you hit the ground you wake up.

Only that didn't happen. When he hit the ground, the ground gave way like water and he was once more launched into the depths of his underwater bane. Looking down, he blinked as the darkness seemed to become more and more solid. When he slowed down, he slowly began flipping around until his feet were 'down' and pressed them down. Amazingly, there was solid weight under his feet. Searching the darkness, he found no light around him at all. Deciding to 'explore' he took a step forward and jumped as the darkness exploded outward into balls of light that scattered. Beneath his feet, the ground began taking shape as a golden floor began forming.

The floor was golden, having an image of a sleeping girl with pigtails. Curious, he examined it a bit more and found that there were a few other girls on the platform, as well as a pair of cats, and a man wearing very stylish clothing and a mask over his face. While everyone else in the picture appeared to be sleeping, he couldn't make heads or tails of the man in the picture. If he was like the others though, he was probably just as 'asleep' as the others.

"**So much to do, so little time…take your time, don't be afraid."**

Naruto looked up into the darkness, unable to see the person who was speaking to him. Reaching to his kunai pouch, he flinched when he realized it was gone. Reaching behind his back, his equipment pouch was gone as well. Frowning, he realized that he was effectively defenseless and not alone.

"**You are never defenseless."** The voice said, making Naruto shout as he jumped. Apparently the voice was able to read his mind. **"You merely need to be taught to utilize your strengths…"**

Naruto blinked, pointing randomly into the darkness. "Oi! Who the hell are you?! And what are you talking about?!"

As he asked this, three scrolls slowly fell from the sky and gently touched down on the glass. Now curious and a bit lost, Naruto looked around warily. Slowly, he moved towards the first one and began inspecting them slowly. There was no way to open the scrolls, with each being a different color. The first one he inspected was a dark red, with the word "Caged" written on the binding. The second was a forest green, with the word "Mind" on its binding. The final scroll was white, and had the word "Sky" written on it.

"**Choose your companion…and choose your foe."**

Naruto blinked, staring up into the air. Chose a companion, and a foe? What kind of confusing explanation was that? Sitting in the middle of the three scrolls, he hummed as he thought about it. Glancing between the three, he glanced up at the sky again. "Can I at least get a peek into them?"

Getting no reply, Naruto pouted and shook his head. Looking between the three, he thought about the three. He didn't know anything about them, what was in them, or anything else. However, the voice had clearly said that choosing one would be a companion, and one would be an enemy. That was worrying, but he could take on whoever it was. The question was, which would he choose?

Looking between the three, his eyes shifted slowly between them as he thought it over. The "Sky" scroll made her nervous, though it didn't help that he'd just fallen from the sky. The "Mind" scroll wasn't bad, but it just sounded so…boring. He could almost feel himself banging his head and getting bored out of his mind. The "Caged" scroll though sounded interesting. Having someone caged as his companion? Maybe red was part of it, which meant it was red and caged? The only thing that was red and caged that he knew of was the Kyuubi no Kitsune, the Nine-Tailed Fox, which was sealed in his gut.

Making his decision, he put his hand on the red scroll and nodded. It glowed white faintly, which made him smile slightly. Walking over to the white scroll, he gently flicked it to show his rejection of it. A black aura covered it, and it began slowly burying itself into the glass floor. The green "Mind" scroll, surprisingly, slowly began falling apart and floated out into the darkness. Naruto tilted his head, watching it go.

"…what happened to that scroll? Is that person going to be okay?" Naruto asked, inwardly questioning why he thought that the scroll was a 'person'.

"**They will…if you can pass the next tests."**

Naruto flinched at the voice, not liking the sound of that. For some reason, he felt that if he failed these tests, a lot was going to ride on him and his current choice was going to affect a lot more then he currently thought. Still though, he was Uzumaki Naruto, the future Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato and like hell he was just going to give up because he was nervous about a choice he'd made. He'd made his choice to be his own kind of ninja and had stuck to it, he'd chosen to help people who needed someone to be there, and he was going to make it through this too.

Stomping his foot, he prepared himself to shout his proclamation of victory. Before he could, he realized that he'd just stomped his foot on glass. Glancing down, the cracks from his foot spread rapidly and shattered beneath him. Shouting loudly, he fell again. This time though, it wasn't into darkness, but towards another glass pane. Staring down, he took in the image with curiosity.

The image was of a red haired girl with pigtails similar to the blond he'd seen in the golden platform, far more clear to his sight then the previous pane. She was wearing a school girl's outfit, and was holding a folded paper fan in her hands. Next to her, a young boy with red hair as well, a cloak, and a staff in his hands as he looked at her with a smile. Around her was a very, very large group of girls that all in their own way looked quite happy. Curiously, everyone's eyes were open on the pane except for the first girl, who appeared to be asleep.

Landing softly, he looked around again. As he did, he noticed a shadow on the ground. He'd thought it was his own while he was falling, but as he was clearly seeing, it wasn't. Looking up, he scratched his head in confusion. When he looked back at the shadow, he jumped again as the shadow began rising up.

"**There will be times you have to fight. Keep your light burning strong."**

Naruto raised an eyebrow, curling his fingers into fists. The shadow was small, almost cute looking. With his current disadvantage, he wasn't too sure he – Naruto rolled his eyes at that thought, his lips curling into a smirk. Disarmed? Disadvantaged? That was how he lived, that was usually how his fights ended up being, and he'd still beaten many stronger foes.

As the shadow lumbered forwards, Naruto rushed it as well. Since it was a creature actually smaller then him, he found himself enjoying the fact that he was more than capable of punting the small creature into the air with a single kick. _"Well, that was easy."_ He thought to himself, only to have the creature roll to its feet and come after him again. Rolling his eyes, he once more attacked it, getting no resistance from the small shadow. With only a few more hits, it crumbled into small shimmers of light, causing Naruto to blink. "…well that's new."

"**Look out, behind you!"**

Whipping around, Naruto cocked his leg back and kicked the shadow harshly against the face and sent it flying over the edge. Seeing more shadows rising up to come after him, he punched the next one that came to close through the head and used his knee to knock over another that got to close. Despite being in a hostile environment and having no idea where he was, Naruto was bouncing on his heels, grinning like a fool as he shadow boxed the air in a 'come at me' motion.

To his surprise, the shadows apparently decided they'd had enough. Slipping into the ground, the platform he was standing on suddenly began to be completely encompassed in it, dragging him down through the floor. Struggling and shouting as it pulled him under, he flinched when he found that when he'd been 'pulled through', he was falling…again.

"Okay, falling is now my worst enemy." Naruto muttered, not liking how many times he had fallen already.

Once more, after falling a bit, he was able to see the next platform. This floor was something strange to him, having never seen anything like it. The grey floor stained glass platform formed a picture of someone he swore he knew. The person in the image was only a shadow at best, but from what he could see it was definitely a girl with short hair. Surrounding her was a set of four other circles, most of which had cracks on them. At the top and bottom of the platform were two more circles; one of them was shadowed like the five girls, though there was a red colored glass in the background. The other had a glowing bright blue colored glass and was colored in. Once more, he found himself looking at a mirror image of himself.

Looking up, he blinked as a circle of light lead him towards a set of pane glass stairs. Shrugging, seeing nothing wrong with this scenario, he briskly walked up it. As he did so, he realized that the first platform he'd been standing on was actually a pillar, as well as the second, and the one behind him. The spotlight in the sky was helping him see much more clearly some of the things going on, and he greatly appreciated it. Upon reaching the first pillar again, the voice spoke, making him somewhat less pleased with the light that was helping him see.

"**The closer you get to light, the greater your shadow becomes."**

Glancing behind him, he blinked as he realized that his shadow was indeed much longer than it once was. Worse still, it was rising out of the floor like the shadows before it. Seeing how it was _his_ shadow though, he was a bit more spooked and took a hesitant step back as he watched.

"**But don't be afraid. And don't forget…"**

Naruto's eyes trailed up the figure's body, causing him to wince as he watched the gargantuan shadow glare down at him. Now that he was taking the time to pay attention, he noticed that it had yellow eyes, and was staring with a hollow, heartless look on its face. Pulling back its fist, its hand glowed with a shadowed purple aura as it punched at him. Dodging deftly to the side, Naruto smirked as the giant was slow, which allowed him more than enough time to dive back in and start punching the fist as much as he could. Smaller shadows popped out to fight him, but he was more than able to send them back. They were puny and slow compared to him.

When it punched a second time, and he pulled off the same results, he was beginning to feel confident. This was what he was fighting? He could take this on any day. As he thought this though, the pillar shook, causing him to fall flat into a pool of shadows. Flinching, he struggled to rise as they began enveloping him. Staring around, he noticed another pool not far away.

"_Aw crap, it was a trap!"_ Naruto realized, pulling against the shadows as they once more began trying to drag him through the floor.

"**Don't be afraid…"**

"_It's a little late for that!"_ Naruto mentally shouted as the shadows began crawling over his face.

"**You hold the mightiest weapon of all."**

Naruto certainly didn't feel like he was holding onto any uber cool weapons like that. Especially with how the shadows were currently taking him down. _Shadows_. Of all the things to be beaten by, he had to lose to something as wimpy as shadows.

"**So don't forget…you will be the one…"**

"The one to what?!" Naruto shouted, reaching his hand to the sky as his vision was blinded and all went dark.

* * *

Slowly, Naruto sat up in his bed and yawned. Rubbing his eyes slowly, his mind went over the dream he'd just had again. It had been very strange, and it had felt very real. Now though, he was safe in his bed, and he was calmly getting ready for the day.

It had been a few days since he and his team had come back from Yuki no Kuni, the Land of Snow. Or, Haru no Kuni, the Land of Spring after he and his team had taken down the evil dictator and helped turn on the generator that allowed the country to be free from the cold that had plagued it. There was even going to be a movie that showed their skills and would make them all famous beyond their wildest dreams. He just knew it.

Cracking his neck, he rolled his shoulders and grabbed his weapons pouch. Making sure it was _very_ secure, and then tying his kunai pouch _firmly_ to his leg – he didn't want to be without them again – he made his way to where his team would meet. Apparently the dream had spooked him a bit more then he'd expected. Not that he was worried; he was still more then capable of defending himself with his fists too.

Thinking about the dream again, he slowly slapped his face and shook his head. It was quite obviously a dream in hindsight, since if he'd been in the real world, his first instinct when seeing a giant behemoth of darkness would have been to spam Kage Bunshin (Shadow Clones) and then get to where its face was so that he and one of his clones could form a Rasengan (Spiraling Sphere) and smash it against his face. He was almost certain that if he'd done that the shadow wouldn't have stood a chance against his awesome moves.

Tying his hiate tight, he opened his door and paused. Glancing back into his room, he felt a strange feeling in his gut. Something like a foreboding, ominous feeling in his gut.

"…I bought expired milk again didn't I?" he said to himself, scratching his cheek nervously. After his last encounter with said expired dairy, he had taken quite a bit more care to prevent himself from drinking it.

Shrugging, he closed the door behind himself and made his way out. The moment his door closed, a cloaked figure emerged from the shadows of his back room, eyeing the door he'd left from.

"What an interesting child. Still naïve, still but a child. No matter. This world has been connected by to the darkness, and with no one to protect it, it too will fade."

* * *

Making his way through the city, Naruto stared up at the sky as he walked, hands in his pockets as he made his way to the meeting spot. There were clouds building a bit to quickly for his liking, looking like it was going to rain or storm at some point. Naruto had rarely seen it rain in Konohagakure, the last time being when the village had attended the Sandaime (Third) Hokage's funeral. It had been tragic to see him go, and he'd been as sad as anyone else there.

Shaking his head, he focused ahead. In the distance, he saw Sasuke and Sakura standing on the bridge waiting for him. Smiling widely, he waved to them as he ran up. "Hey guys!"

"Hey Naruto." Sakura said cheerily, waving back with a small smile.

"Hey." Sasuke said, giving a small nod as his simplistic greeting.

Naruto grinned at the two of them, chuckling as he leaned against the railing. "So, what're we doing today?"

"Resting." Sakura replied, waving her finger at Naruto. "You know the rules. Any mission outside the walls of Konoha requires a minimum of three days before another can be taken. Detoxing from the adrenaline and getting your head screwed back on so it doesn't fall off during your next mission is important."

"Not to mention you can learn new tricks." Sasuke said, idly letting his Sharingan flash to life for a second before it faded. "Heh, on our last mission, I barely had to use my Sharingan. I'm getting better and better every day."

Naruto stuck his tongue out at Sasuke, though it was all in good fun. He was still working on figuring out how Kakashi's chidori (thousand birds) technique worked ever since the man had attempted to explain it to him. Attempted being the key word. Meanwhile, Sasuke was running around with the technique like it was second nature, and had landed the first solid blow that ended up crippling the dictator Dotou enough for Naruto's rasengan (spiraling sphere) to break through his armor and kill him.

"Besides, Kakashi-sensei won't be around for another while either since he takes his days off very seriously." Sakura said, nodding to herself as though she had said something profound. They all knew what he'd be doing, and none of them questioned it.

"Hm." Naruto rubbed his chin, thinking out loud. "…do either of you guys know anything about chakra control techniques? I mean, besides water walking and tree climbing?"

Both of them stared at him, clearly torn between being confused and awestruck by his question. Naruto, admitting a fault? No, with the way he'd said it, he had something else on his mind. "Um…why do you ask?" Sakura said slowly. Knowing Naruto, it was likely going to be something stupid, but it couldn't hurt to hear him out.

Surprisingly, it wasn't as dumb as they thought it might sound. "Well, after the Chunin Exams, I went to find Tsunade-oba-chan with Ero-sennin. He taught me some stuff, but before he did I thought he was going to help me with my chakra control, like he had before the Chunin Exams. I figured that there might be some other awesome stuff ninja's could do, like fire walking, or maybe air walking. Can you imagine that?"

His teammates glanced at each other, thinking over what he'd said. It did make sense that there could be other ways to train their chakra control, but neither had heard of many if any. While his ideas sounded silly, especially since they'd never heard of anyone walking on air or through fire before, they _were_ bored, and it sounded like a viable way to spend their time. There was always the usual plan of hang out until Sasuke got bored and left to train which lead to Naruto and Sakura splitting off to do their own things. With this though, everyone won.

"Well…it would be pretty neat." Sakura admitted. Thinking it over, she figured the best plan she could think of. "I figure if we get some books on chakra control, or even chakra theory, we might have a chance of learning some new techniques that might be viable chakra control techniques."

"I know a few shinobi stores that sell them." Sasuke said, remembering seeing a few books in their rather limited section. "It's only theory though, since a ninja's jutsu are secret after all. Theories though are less restricted. Plus, we can come up with our own ideas on how to use them."

Naruto grinned widely, rubbing his hands together. "Alright! So, what's the plan?"

Sasuke glanced to Sakura, who gave both of them a small nod. "Alright, here it is. Sasuke, get the theory books. Naruto, you're coming with me to the library so we can check out some basic chakra exercises. As long as they aren't checked out, we should be all set." Seeing Naruto blink before getting ready to give a whoop of victory, Sakura quickly cut in. "I'm having you come with me because I need someone to carry my books. I'm not just checking out one or two you know. There's a lot of ways we can research this."

Naruto pouted, but then quickly brightened that the idea of spending time with Sakura regardless of where they went. Even a boring place like the library worked out for him.

* * *

Slowly picking his head off the table, Naruto moaned softly. "Have you found them all yet?"

"No Naruto. I haven't found the last two books, so be patient."

Letting his head hit the table, he sighed. He'd expected them to grab more than a couple of books, since it would give them more coverage of different techniques. What he hadn't realized was that Sakura was a bookworm; a serious, hardcore bookworm that had a nose for picking out many, many books teeming with information. Fifteen books later tough, Naruto was starting to see the problem with that plan.

He'd tried to look through one of them, but had quickly pushed it away and began banging his head on the table. When people said "theory" what they apparently meant was "complicated-as-hell" seeing how it used so many big words that his head began spinning. He just wanted to learn to do awesome stuff with his chakra, not get a headache from all the words he didn't know.

"Why does learning things have to be so hard?" Naruto moaned, turning his head away from where Sakura was at as he waited. Sighing, his eyes slowly scanned the room before they came across someone else he didn't expect to see.

"Eh? Naruto?"

"Kiba? What are you doing here?"

Kiba, one of his friends and classmates from when he'd been going through the ninja academy, held up a book. "I was picking up a book to see if I could help me and Akamaru learn a new combo technique. You?"

"I was going to get some theory books to learn some awesome skills, but…" Naruto said, motioning to the books behind him.

"Ah." Kiba said, chuckling at Naruto's predicament. "Well, it could be worse. You might actually have to read all of them."

"I totally could, but they're so _boring_." Naruto said, gripping his head and shook his head. "I mean, if I at least knew what the words meant then maybe, but they use big words that are totally useless. I swear, they just put the big words in because they want to sound cool and nothing else."

"Probably." Kiba shrugged. Pulling out a small blue book, he waved it in Naruto's face. "Luckily for me, _I_ came prepared."

Naruto squinted, trying to figure out what he was putting in his face. When he finally saw it, his eyes widened as he realized what it was and sat up. "Where the heck did you get a dictionary from?" Naruto squinted, staring at Kiba with a frown. "And how the heck did you even get the idea to use a dictionary in the first place?"

"Hinata suggested it. There should be another one over there. I'd go get one before the last one is taken." Kiba said, pointing to where he'd gotten it a moment before. As soon as his hand was up, Naruto was out of his seat and stumbling to where the dictionaries were at. "…you're welcome."

"Eh? Kiba?" Sakura said, peeking her head out from the bookshelves. "What are you doing here? I thought…is that One Hundred Uses for Tree Climbing? I was just looking for that."

"Uh…" Kiba said, suddenly feeling like he was being stared down by a powerful hunter. Swallowing thickly, he chuckled nervously.

Meanwhile, Naruto made his was to where the dictionaries were at. Naruto hadn't thought of it before, but it was so obvious now. A dictionary would let him know what the useless words meant, which meant he'd be less bored by what he was reading. It would be tedious, but then when he'd been learning the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique) it had taken time and he'd proven that he could do it given the opportunity. And for awesome flashy jutsu, he was more willing and determined than ever.

As he rounded the corner, he was surprised when he came face to face with another person who was now nose to nose with him. "Eep!"

"Eh? Hinata-chan, what are you doing over here?" Naruto asked, blinking as he took a small step back to give her some space.

"Ano…" Hinata fidgeted, glancing down at the book in her hands. "I was just going to check this out so I could get some work done."

Seeing her fidgeting, he put his hands behind his head and chuckled nervously. "No kidding? Same for me!" Noticing the book, Naruto grinned. "Hey, can you show me where you got that?"

Hinata blinked, hesitantly holding up her dictionary. When Naruto nodded eagerly, she blushed and nodded slowly. "Yeah, I can show you."

"Sweet!" Naruto shouted, ignoring the shushes from the librarian and her assistants as Hinata lead him to where they were at.

Seeing a lady with a couple of books for sale, Naruto quickly made his way to where the dictionaries were at. Picking up one, he flipped through it casually before nodding to himself. Turning to the lady, he quickly purchased it and all but skipped back to Hinata.

Hinata, not realizing Naruto was going to come back to her, was a bit caught off guard by his return. She glanced away nervously, she fidgeted with her book in hand as she tried to think of how to ask her question without offending the boy next to her. It was a bit difficult, despite how laid back he could be, and she didn't want him thinking poorly of her.

Noticing the way she was glancing away, Naruto was surprisingly quick to explain. "Kiba was over by our table, so I figured we could head there together so we can meet with our teammates."

Perking up slightly, Hinata nodded with a small smile. "I see. So, your team is here?"

"Yeah. Well, Sakura-chan is. Sasuke snuck off to a pawn show or something." Naruto said, scratching his cheek. He'd honestly forgotten where Sasuke had gone, but he didn't want to admit that. Shrugging, he put his dictionary away as he remembered all the other books Sakura had picked up. "I'm just glad Kiba pointed me your way now. Having a dictionary might mean I'm not going to be bored and annoyed by the big words that I don't understand."

Hinata smiled, understanding some of where Naruto's mindset was going with that. He wasn't the best at understanding big words and things of that nature, but as he was showing he wasn't going to let that hold him back. If anything, it made him more determined to figure it out.

A second later, Naruto and Hinata came to their meeting place and blinked together at the sight they returned to. Sakura was chasing Kiba – remarkably quietly – around the table as she tried to get the book Kiba had away or something like that. They didn't understand what Sakura was thinking, but neither was really looking to get between the two of them yet.

Hinata scanned the books Naruto and Sakura had gotten, idly wondering what Naruto was up to with them. Glancing at him, she bit her lip and tapped her fingers together for a second. Coming to the conclusion that Naruto wouldn't tell her if she didn't ask, she spoke up. "Um, Naruto-kun? What are you all researching? The different books you have seem a bit…diverse."

"Oh?" Naruto grinned. "Hehe, yeah, we're looking up chakra theory so we can see if we can figure out if there's any other chakra control techniques that we can learn."

Hinata's eyes scanned the books a bit more closely now, trying to remember which ones covered the subject Naruto had brought up. Seeing plenty of books that would cover it, she frowned as she considered how Naruto would look at them. Knowing that of his team, Naruto would have the most difficulty with the more advanced theory, she inwardly wondered why all the books Sakura had picked up were on advanced theory. Or rather, they were as close to advanced theory as one could get without actually getting their hands on some of the theories that jonin likely knew.

Seeing one of them that stood out in her mind, she quickly slipped between the fighting two and plucked it out. Backpedaling quickly to let them go back to fighting, she quickly handed it to Naruto. "Here Naruto-kun, this one should be a bit simpler, and it should give you some good tips on chakra control."

Naruto perked up at that, looking over the book eagerly. After a moment though, he felt himself resisting the urge to palm his face. The book seemed simple enough – Theories Among Kages – which sounded like a completely awesome in his opinion. The problem though, was that it was written by one of his arch nemesis', Ebisu.

Almost a moment after he thought this, his inner twitch dissipated in return for an eagerness. Ebisu wasn't all that bad, as he had taught him the water walking technique, which meant that the guy _did_ know some stuff. So if he put his brain together and actually wrote a book that got published, that meant that _something_ in there had to be worth it.

Thanking Hinata again, he completely missed how beat red she turned when he hugged her. Instead, he turned to his teammate and shouted at her to ignore Kiba and point him to the other books. This lead to Sakura yelling back, which lead to them both getting kicked out of the library. Naruto was lucky the librarian knew and liked Sakura, otherwise they wouldn't have gotten out with their books.

All in all, a good start for the day.

* * *

A couple hours later, Naruto slowly made his way to a nearby bench and sat down. Rubbing his forehead, he stared up at the sky cross-eyed as his mind tried to process everything that he'd read and had explained to him. It had clearly been too much for him to take in all at once, so the team had decided to split up and pick up again tomorrow.

Slowly pushing himself up a bit, he looked at the small playground he was near, smiling softly as he watched the kids playing. While he had some bad memories of the place, he was glad to see that other kids were having a better time.

Blinking, he noticed the sounds of someone scooting something across the ground and angry whispers. Slowly turning his head, he raised an eyebrow as he stared down at the cardboard box that was painted like a rock and was coming towards him. "…Konohamaru? What are you doing?"

"Ah, as expected of my rival!" A voice came from the box. Knowing what was going to happen, Naruto leaned back a bit as the box exploded outwards and the three kids that had been under the box. Konohamaru glanced to the box next to him, shaking his head as he spoke. "Udon, we still need to cut back on the powder."

Udon nodded, rubbing his nose as some of the smoke had gotten into it from their smokescreen. "Right."

Naruto, leaning forward, poked Konohamaru on his forehead and stared down at him. "Oi, what are you doing?"

Konohamaru recovered quickly, hopping to his feet. "Come play with us boss!"

Naruto hummed, rubbing his head and thought about it. Needing some way to detox, he grinned. "Eh, sure why not?"

The three kids cheered, and handed him a couple of paper shuriken before they ran off. Naruto, grinning like a fool himself, raced after them. Since he'd taught them a couple things, beyond his own jutsu, he was able to find them easily and ran around happily throwing his shuriken without any real care. He was having a great day, and was enjoying himself.

After running around for a bit, Naruto felt the hairs on the back of his neck standing on edge. Slowing down on a rooftop, Naruto looked around in confusion. While he could hear the kids shouting at him, he was distracted. Not seeing anything, he turned back to the kids and started to apologize. Before he could say too much though, his eyes caught sight of someone he hadn't expected to see, and was likely the reason for his confusing hair raising feeling.

"Gaara?" Naruto said, blinking as he saw the red headed boy staring at him from the other rooftop. His clothes were different from the short-sleeved tunic he'd worn before; now he wore dark brown, long sleeved clothing that made him look rather cool looking out at him. He still had his hiate on the strap that held his gourd of sand on his back, which showed he was from Sunagakure no Sato, the Village hidden in the Sand. Which was why Naruto was confused. "What are you doing here?"

"My team was on assignment to come to Konoha." Gaara replied, his tone flat, but his eyes held a faint gleam of something Naruto couldn't identify. "I heard you playing, and wanted to speak with you."

"Oh." Naruto scratched the back of his head. Looking down, he chuckled nervously. "Hey guys, I'll be right back. Ninja business and all that."

Konohamaru pouted, stomping his foot and pointing at him. "You better not be getting secrets on how to become Hokage from this guy and not tell me!"

"Yeah, yeah." Naruto said dismissively.

As he hopped across to the other roof where Gaara was standing, Gaara turned and began leaping across rooftops himself. Apparently Gaara didn't want to talk around the kids, which Naruto didn't care too much about. Where they talked wasn't that big a deal, and he could more than handle himself if need be. As they got further in, they eventually landed near an abandoned building close enough to the Hokage's Tower, where he finally stopped and turned to Naruto.

There was a short silence between the two, which make Naruto a bit more nervous. What was so important that Gaara had dragged him away? If he was attacking him, he probably wouldn't have run away from the kids; he'd pinned Sakura to a tree last time they'd fought, so why would he think twice about doing that again. Was there some secret mission that he needed him to do that only he could pull off? His expectations were all over the place, which made his expectations rise exponentially.

"…how have you been Naruto?" Gaara asked, trying to small talk a bit. He'd been trying it a bit more since they'd fought, and found he was slowly starting to get the hang of it.

"Eh? Um, I'm going good." Naruto said, smiling a bit. All his thoughts flew from his mind as he focused on actually talking.

"Good." Gaara said softly, slowly staring up at the sky. "Have you seen the night sky lately?"

Not expecting the conversation to take a sudden odd turn, Naruto raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"The night sky." Gaara said, slowly dropping his head and stared at Naruto. "I cannot sleep at night, so I have plenty of time to stare up at it. As I've done so lately, I've seen something rather disturbing." Seeing Naruto's interest was once more fully caught and invested, he explained. "The stars have been vanishing before my eyes, like their light was being snuffed out."

For a second, Naruto deadpanned at that. It didn't' sound like anything all that great, or anything he'd be interested in. Before he opened his mouth to ask why it was important, a line from his dream suddenly popped into his head.

"_Keep your light burning strong."_

"…okay. What do you mean? Are they, like, flickering or something? Or are they just…poof?" Naruto asked, crossing his arms and thinking as he thought about what all could do something like that. Lights could just go out, but stars? Those were supposed to stay on, not just randomly vanish.

"As I said, they simply are vanishing." Gaara replied, inwardly sighing in relief. He'd mentioned it to his siblings at one point, and while they'd seemed interested, none of them knew the night sky well enough to know what he meant. Even worse, they figured it was something to do with his insomnia. He'd been awake for longer than either of them, and he was more than stable enough to know the difference between sleep deprivation and reality. Apparently Naruto was less biased, and more…confused.

Naruto scratched his head, wondering how that had happened. Stars didn't go 'poof' like that did they? He didn't know, he'd never read up on stars before. Then again, he also knew that for the most part the stars just stayed where they were and lit up the night sky. He'd star watched a couple times, but he'd never really thought about what was out there, what could be out there. His mind was firmly placed on the ground, when his head wasn't in the clouds daydreaming.

"…I'll look into it." Naruto said after a moment, realizing he actually needed to know things about stars before he could help out.

Gaara nodded, glancing at the setting sun warily. "Whatever you do, do so quickly. With each sundown, I feel more anxious for it to be taken care of and finished."

Naruto nodded, glancing at the setting sun as well. Giving Gaara one more sidelong glance, he leapt to the roofs again and made his way towards the library. It was probably closing soon, but he needed to get some books – this time some that were more helpful and less complicated – so that he could catch up and learn about it all. He only got halfway there when a boom of thunder cracked through the air, causing Naruto to pause and stare up.

"…oh yeah, there's a storm coming." Naruto muttered, smacking his forehead. The storm meant he wasn't going to be able to even see the stars tonight, which meant studying them was going to be a bust. "Gah, I'll just look over some kids books and see what I can learn when the storm starts up."

Leaping again, he quickly entered the library. It would be open for a short while longer, which was more than enough time for him. The plan was simple; get the book, go home, read, relax, and then show off his awesome skills. He'd later be grateful he'd even had enough time to get to the library.

Because the world wouldn't last long enough for him to get home.

* * *

Having found nothing of use before the library had closed, Naruto sulked on his way home. He'd failed to get anything that could help him and Gaara, and it was frustrating. Sure the storm would block his view of the stars, but he still wanted to have the book to say he tried.

Rolling his eyes, he put his hands behind his head and hummed softly. "Maybe I can summon Gamakichi when I get back to the apartment. He might know something about all of this."

As a summoner, Naruto found that he usually didn't summon his little friends as much as he could've at times. Then again, the small toad in question was also the toad boss' son, so taking him away all the time might get dicey. Still, for something that sounded as important as this, he didn't want to take any chances; any help at all was better than no help.

Before he could get to far though, a particularly loud blast of struck behind him, causing his teeth to grind together as the wave of thunder rolled over him. Turning around, he froze as he saw something rather odd. Unlike normal lightning, which struck then left, this one was still there, and there was still power arching from it as it zapped the ground. Above it, hidden by the dark clouds, was a ball of shadows from which the bolt of lightning was emanating from. Dense as many people made him out to be, even Naruto wasn't so thick skulled to miss the implication of what was happening.

They were under attack.

Racing towards the lightning, his mind went over all the things that it could be. Enemy ninja? Friendly ninja gone rogue? Gaara using the Ichibi – no wait, that would've been a sand monster that appeared in the middle of town, so that one was out. Aliens? Naruto thought that one might've been kinda fun. Or worse of all, were the paranormal powers of the undead coming to destroy them all?

Naruto shuddered at that thought. Suddenly, he didn't want to know what it was. He just wanted to find it and beat it up till it left. A small part of his childish nature said that if he did that Tsunade-oba-chan would let him take over as Hokage, but she wasn't as old as Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage,had been. It might give him some good points to picking him as her successor though.

Once he got close enough to the light, he stared at it with a thoughtful hum. He had no clue what it was, or what he could do to it, but then he had a good way of checking it out as well. Crossing his hands in front of him, his fingers formed something akin to a cross-like shape as he smirked.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)!" He shouted. Four clones appeared around him, each one grinning as well. Crossing his arms, Naruto watched as the four gave a loud shout and raced towards the light to see if they could figure out what was going on. If they were dispelled, Naruto would be able to see it and then could respond and fight back against…whatever it was.

As they got close though, Naruto found himself flinching in shock and somewhat in fear as he saw that the light was casting shadows on everything around it, and that from the shadows, black blobs were rising up. The very same ones he'd seen in his dream, complete with their beady, heartless yellow eyes.

The clones thought they could stand a chance, and one of them waved them on as he took them on. Punching and kicking, and even drawing a kunai after throwing a handful of shuriken, both the clone and himself were surprised to find that these shadows weren't taking his hits as bad as those in his dream had. In fact, any hit he laid into them with barely made them bounce back before they picked themselves up and began attacking again. And with the one hit limit on his clones, the clone didn't last all that long when one of the shadows struck his clone in the back and it dispelled.

Looking to the other three, they weren't handling themselves well either. They were close to the lightning, and were quickly finding that whatever it was that was in it was quite a bit more powerful then he'd thought as they were forced to dodge and weave to avoid being struck by a large hand of shadows. Naruto once more flinched, recognizing the hand as the larger shadow from his dream.

"…what the hell is going on here?" Naruto muttered, eyes watching as his clones found themselves being slowly but surely cornered to the point that even a near miss was fatal for one of his helpless clones.

"The darkness has come."

Naruto whirled around, ready to defend himself from the unknown enemy. Surprisingly though, it wasn't an enemy at all. "Sasuke? What are you doing here?"

Sasuke wasn't looking at him though, his eyes focused on the ball of shadows above the bolt of lightning. "So it's true, our world is already doomed."

"Uh, Sasuke? Hello? What's going on?" Naruto demanded, trying to get his teammate and best friend's attention. When Sasuke looked at him though, there was a darkness in them; anger, betrayal, and even a hint of fear. Flinching at the foreign emotions crossing his friends face, Naruto looked him over worriedly. "…Sasuke?"

"We need to leave. Now." Sasuke said, a circle of darkness rising up around his feet. The shadows began crawling up his legs, though Sasuke paid them no mind. "You can't fear it Naruto. We have to get through this…or we'll never get back."

"Sasuke what are you –" Naruto tried to step forward, but found that he too was surrounded by a ring of darkness. Eyes widening, Naruto struggled against it helplessly. Much like the darkness in his dream, it was quickly trying to consume him. Seeing that the shadows around Sasuke had almost completely covered him, Naruto shouted. "Sasuke!"

"I'll see you on the other side Naruto." Sasuke said as his form fading as he was pulled down into the darkness.

"No!" Naruto shouted, still struggling against the bonds of shadows.

As the shadows began reaching his head, Naruto's face morphed into a scowl of determination. _"I can't lose here! Sasuke's in trouble, the village is in trouble, and I'm not giving up on this…so…EASILY!"_

Pulling himself into a standing position, he shouted loudly in rage as he pulled against the shadows. A feeling of power surged through him, and the shadows seemed to suddenly push away from him. With a quick burst, Naruto felt himself become enveloped in light and the shadows vanish completely around him. Panting slightly, Naruto clenched his fists tightly, surprised to find that in his right hand there was something new. Looking it over, he raised an eyebrow at its appearance.

It was a sword of some kind, though it was the strangest sword he'd ever seen. It had a thick knuckle guard of steel that was oddly on either side of the blade, though the blade only had a single edge, and that had a bit more distance from his knuckles to the guard then he'd ever seen. The blade was made from a flat piece of bronze, the orange-ish coloring once more out of place on a blade. The final piece that confused him though, was that at the end of the blade it had an ax-like piece that looked like it had a crown taken out of the middle part, and was on the wrong side to have a blade seeing how it was on the blunt side of the blade. Holding it out, he heard a small jingle, and took note of a chain that was attached to the blade. Picking up the end part of it, he raised his eyebrow as he saw it was a metal plate with the symbol of Konohagakure etched into it; like his hiate, if the symbol was drawn sideways and was worn vertical rather than horizontal.

"**Keyblade…Keyblade…"**

Naruto stared up into the sky, blinking in confusion. Unlike the original voice from his dream, this one was more of a hissing noise. Whatever it was, this thing didn't like it at all. Smirking at the thought of whatever it not liking his new sword, he placed it on his shoulder and pointed at the sky. "Yeah, that's right, I have this…Keyblade…thingy. So ha to you and your shadowy butts!"

Almost as though it heard his insult, there was an earth shaking screech, followed by more shadows rising up around him. Yelping, Naruto swung the blade wildly in defense of himself. Shockingly, Naruto found that the blade didn't just go through it, it took it out and caused it to explode into little balls of light with small a small silhouette of a heart coming from it. Realizing that this 'Keyblade' could hurt them, he could suddenly see why they wouldn't' like it. Smirking, Naruto began laying waste to the shadows around him, getting used to the strange feeling of the blade in his hands.

As the last of the shadows was taken out, Naruto looked back to the lightning as it slowly began to die down. From the center of it all, the giant from his dreams began taking form. As the lightning disappeared, a whirlwind of shadows suddenly blew through the village, requiring Naruto to grip the roof with chakra to prevent being blown away. Covering his face with his free hand, Naruto blinked as he saw that the wind wasn't normal. Rather than just being wind, it was purple, and dark, with a feeling of something tainted that caused shivers to run up his spine.

As it died down, Naruto flinched and lowly looked around. The world as he knew it was falling apart, darkness enveloping the world around him and the giant shadow. Only a few buildings were left, and as he glanced back, he realized that he was actually only standing on half a building. The other half had been consumed during the whirlwind. Glancing upwards, his eyes widened further as he saw that the ball of darkness had become an ominous red hue, and was drawing in whatever was around it. In fact, Naruto swore he saw a few people being drawn into it.

Hearing a dark roar, Naruto returned his attention to the giant. Seeing it charging up some kind of purple-red energy, he frowned. Leaping off the building he ran around its feet as he swung his blade at its leg. Surprisingly, there wasn't much damage from his blade to its leg, though it was more then what his clones were doing. The howl of something rushing past him, Naruto glanced behind him with a raised eyebrow. The energy that had been gathered into the giant's chest exploded outwards and destroyed the building he'd once been on.

"Holy crap this thing can do that?!" Naruto shouted, running between its legs and getting behind it. Jumping upwards, he struck the giant in the back and quickly leapt away as it turned to face him slowly. "Man, this thing is slow, but it can take a hit. Come on you…Keyblade thing, put some effort into it!"

Seeing the giant pulling back his hand, Naruto blinked as he remembered it doing exactly that in his dream. Smirking, he slowly gathered himself up to jump. When the fist launched at him, he dodged back and let it strike in front of him. Skidding to a halt, he rushed forwards and began beating the fist with the sword as quickly as he could. With how much it weighed and how little skill he had in using it, it wasn't all that fast. Worse still, there were small shadows that were popping up around him as he struck the giant, probably coming off from where he hit them. Spinning on his heels, he smacked them back before going back to the fist.

"Come on, come on, come on!" Naruto chanted as he struck. Right before he struck the 'killing blow', the fist pulled back and his swing met only air. "Oh come on, coward! Get back here and fight like a man!"

Apparently deciding to do just that, the shadow slammed its other hand onto Naruto. Still slower than him though, Naruto was able to dodge the fist once more. This time though, Naruto wasn't having _any_ of the giant's shenanigans. Running up to it, he ran up the length of its arm towards its face. Even though it obviously could tell what he was doing, its arm was stuck in the ground, and couldn't be easily removed. This gave Naruto all the opportunity he needed to start smacking it in the face and beating it up. Unable to take that many hits to the face, it soon lumbered back and let out an echo of a groan as it began falling back.

Almost as though it were reacting to the giant's defeat, the red orb in the sky began pulsating faster. The falling giant never hit the ground, as the suction became too great for it and it began rising upwards until it was absorbed by the light. Naruto on the other hand, had managed to find a doorframe that was still up and was holding on, if just barely, to the top of it. The rest of the building was being ripped away, and soon he could feel the doorframe itself rattling violently in response. Holding on with chakra was helping, but soon not even that saved him.

The entire doorframe was ripped out of the ground, with Naruto along with it. Letting it go, he struggled and fought against the whipping winds as he was dragged into the darkness.

"No…I won't lose!" Naruto shouted as he was enveloped by shadows once more.

Then, as though a silent command had been given, the world simply vanished, and was no more.

* * *

Two men were walking down the street calmly, occasionally looking up at the sky as they traveled to their hotel room. The two of them were vastly different in many ways, though some were more obvious than others. One was taller with black hair and red eyes, wearing a sleeveless black cloak and a red headband with similarly red metal framing his face called a happuri, with more red markings that covered said cloak with a sword strapped firmly to his hip. The other man was shorter, with blond hair and blue eyes, he wore a white cloak with blue markings covering it. While the shorter man was smiling, the larger one scowled, keeping his eyes forward while his companion occasionally searched the skies. With them, a small white meat bun-like creature with a red gem in the center of its 'forehead' sat on the smaller of the two's shoulder, smiling happily as they traveled, though it did frown slightly when its traveling shoulder stopped and pointed upwards.

"Oh, Kuro-puu, look!"

The larger man stared up at the sky, wincing as he saw what had caught his companion's attention. "Damn, there goes another one. They're getting faster."

The shorter man tapped his chin, thinking for a moment before speaking. "Do you think that anyone survived? I mean, we've seen more people showing up since we came here, so it wouldn't –"

"Don't get your hopes up." The tall man said, cutting him off. "We've seen people come here, yes, but that doesn't mean that we'll see anyone."

The shorter man frowned, inwardly wishing that his companion was more optimistic about what was going on around them. Granted, he was sure that after searching they'd find someone, there were several other worlds that had disappeared and they'd received no one who'd been strong enough to arrive.

Next to him, his little white meat bun companion suddenly perked up, eyes widening greatly as it stared at the sky. "Someone's arrived!"

Both men looked at the small meat bun, raising an eyebrow in surprise. The shorter of them smiled, gently patting it on the head. "Already? Wow, they must've been really strong to have gotten here so fast. Don't you think so Mokona?"

The meat bun, Mokona, shook its head. "I only felt them arrive. They must be close though, since my eyes got really wide again." Mokona said, pointing at its face and mimicked the expression it had just had. "I'm glad Yuuko let me sense when people come here. It makes me happy to know people are surviving the attacks."

Both of them nodded, sighing softly as they continued making their way through the streets with eyes wide open in attempt to see their newcomer. This didn't mean they would find them just yet, or even today. Depending on who it was, they might not even find them at all. It had happened a few times already, but they weren't discouraged. At least, they weren't yet.

"Has the Witch finally told us who we're supposed to be on the lookout for yet?" The taller man asked, gently tapping his sword with his fingers in aggravation. "We've been on the 'hunt' for weeks, and still we haven't come any closer to finding them. No one here seems particularly 'more unique' then anyone else."

"Ah, but they're all special in their own way." The shorter man said, smiling widely. "Like that one guy, who was flying around on his broom thingy. Or that other guy, who was skating around on his special shoes. Ooh, even that one guy who turned into a girl when he fell into the fountain! That was interesting. And –"

"Alright, I get it, there's lots of 'special' people here." The tall guy rolled his eyes. "Still, that doesn't mean that any of them are the ones we're looking for anyways. All we were told was to 'find the key, and bring it to her'. What kind of a key are we looking for, and why did she make it sound so…important?"

"Maybe because it is?"

"Maybe, but why?" Glancing at his companion, they stared at each other before looking away to continue their search. Neither of them had an answer to that question, and Mokona hadn't said anything about it either; just that it'd let them know when they found it. So far, no one that had come through had it, and neither had anything to give to get the information. Stuck, and searching blind, they continued onward.

So caught up in their thoughts, none of them noticed the red glow that shone down an alley they passed, or the blond haired boy who fell out of it.

* * *

AN: Well, one chapter and I've already destroyed the Naruto-verse. Personal record.

Of those mentioned. only two of them will be full time companions. The only hint I'll give, is that it's not the two at the end. Those two are from a different story line, ironically similar to what I'm doing in a way, which is why I used them at the end. Honestly, I wonder if anyone knows where they're from, so let me know if you do.

Also, as you can see, Naruto has the Keyblade, but it's not the one Sora uses. Why? Because. However, the reason behind giving it to him was two fold; he needs to lock the worlds to keep the Heartless at bay from taking them all over, and I wanted to draw the biggest bulls-eye onto his back I possibly could. And with the Keyblade, that's a pretty big bulls-eye for the Heartless to follow.

Finally, Sasuke choosing to do what he just did...explanation? You'll see. Should be a bit different, especially considering my timing. For those who don't know, the 1st movie was set before the Race Arc (where they fight Aoi), which is before the Sasuke Retrieval Arc. This means Sasuke isn't fully going evil, and he doesn't have 2nd level curse seal. That should make things interesting.

Till next time, where Naruto learns about my anime variant of Traverse Town, Guru out!


	2. Traverse Town

Another new story for me means quicker updates. As such, enjoy chapter 2 of my crossover!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or any other anime's so much as mentioned in my story.

* * *

**Naruto: Anime's Apart**

_Traverse Town_

There was a stiffness all throughout his body as his eyes slowly attempted to open. He felt like he'd gone five rounds against Neji and hit with that poking attack that shut of his chakra every single time. He'd forgotten the name of it, but he definitely hadn't forgotten how painful it could be. Worse still, he had no idea for how long he'd been unconscious.

As his eyes finally opened, he slowly flexed his fingers. With a bit of work, he could feel his chakra flowing again, though it was slow to start moving at first. Once he was able to channel it, he was able to get it to help loosen himself up enough that he could sit up; a nifty trick Kakashi had taught the team while they'd been travelling through the cold so they wouldn't have their joints lock up from the cold. Glancing around, he rubbed his eyes before slowly pushing himself to his feet. Staring up in awe, he took in his surroundings.

He was in some kind of stone laden village, which automatically meant he wasn't in his home town anymore. For a second he thought he was imagining everything, but the soreness helped him realize that it wasn't. In his dreams, he generally was invincible…except for the last one.

Sighing, he slowly stretched himself out and slowly made his way out of the alleyway. The night air was cool, and the way it brushed against him sent a shiver up his spine. For whatever reason, he knew there was something about this place that was off. Something that didn't quite make sense to him.

Biting the inside of his cheek, his eyes trailed around the streets with a look of worry. There were all kinds of people here, big and small, and in all kinds of strange outfits. Frowning, he noticed a sign in front of one building that stood out a bit, and approached it slowly till he could read the sign.

"Cat's Eye Café?" Naruto said, staring at it before shrugging. Opening the door, he slowly entered as he took in everything.

The café was quaint, and rather small, but had a homely feeling to it that helped him feel relaxed. There were flowers in vases on each table, light colored curtains over each window, and the walls were a cream color. As his eyes slowly traveled around the room, they eventually landed on a young girl who was sitting behind the counter, smiling at him and clearly waiting for him to approach her. Feeling somewhat awkward, he approached her.

"Um…hi." He said, trying not to show how weird he felt about everything right now.

"Hello there, and welcome to the Cat's Eye Café." The girl said, smiling back to him. Bowing lightly, she continued. "My name is S…Little Kitty, and I will be your waitress."

"…Little Kitty?" Naruto said slowly, slowly blinking as he processed that. Not the most reserved of people, he asked the obvious question. "What kind of a name is that?"

Little Kitty blushed as she looked away. "It's…the name Big Kitty gave me when we bought this café."

"Huh. So his name's Big Kitty?" Naruto said, scratching his cheek. "…okay, I don't get it."

Little Kitty raised her arms in a placating gesture, a gleam or recognition in her eyes. "Oh, I see. You must be new here, aren't you?" Walking around the counter, she took his arm and gently guided him to the table. "Here, have a seat. It's late, so I don't have anyone else here right now. If you'd like, I can answer some of your questions. I'll let you know if I can't answer it, and I apologize if I can't."

Naruto let him be pulled along and seated. He was still confused and lost, but he didn't feel like he had too much to worry about at the moment. Smiling up at her as he sat down, he quietly watched and waited for her to come back. When she did, she had two cups in her hands, with something warm in them based on the steam coming out of them. Taking it when it was offered, he slowly sipped it and found it to be remarkably sweet to the taste.

"I hope you like it. I've been working on making stuff like hot chocolate for a while now." Little Kitty said, sipping her own cup slowly. "Big Kitty said that after being dragged through darkness, something sweet helps the person get back on their feet faster. So far everyone who's come here and that we've helped have enjoyed it if nothing else."

Naruto nodded, listening carefully as he drank a bit more of the drink. The hot chocolate was really quite good, and he was starting to feel his energy returning slowly with each sip. All the soreness he'd been using his chakra to help alleviate was needing less and less chakra.

Little Kitty sighed, setting the cup down gently. "So, since you're new here, it would probably be good for you to ask your questions before we have any more visitors like yourself. So, what sort of questions do you have?"

Blinking at the change in subject, Naruto crossed his arms and nodded. "Um, yeah. First off, where am I?"

"You're in Traverse Town, the world of travelers, and home of the lost." Little Kitty replied, seemingly happy about the easy enough question. "Since you don't know where you're at, I'm guessing you aren't from around here then?"

"No, I'm from a place called Konohagakure no Sato." Naruto replied, pausing before he continued. If he was really in another world, then that meant these people didn't know about where he was from, and that he should probably not mention too much yet. "But, everything changed when that giant attacked."

"Giant?" Little Kitty asked, blinking in surprise. "Your world was attacked by a giant?"

"Yeah." Naruto said, crossing his arms. "What I don't get, is how the heck did it just suddenly appear in the middle of my village. I mean, there was lightning, and thunder, and Tsunade-oba-chan didn't even poke her head out to do anything. In fact…no one helped out come to think of it."

Little Kitty winced, her mind catching up with what he'd said. She had a good idea what had happened, and she wished Big Kitty was there to help explain it. His over the top attitude and way of speaking would help it hurt less than if she was the one who told him.

"And then there was Sasuke, who got eaten by shadows. That was weird." Blinking, he glanced at Little Kitty again. "Wait, do you know anything about the shadows that attacked my village?"

"I'd love to let you continue, but I'm going to need you to hand over your key kid."

Naruto's eyes widened at the new voice. Pushing himself out of his chair, his hand gripped on his sword – Keyblade as he remembered it being called – and scowled at the newcomer. Looking the dark haired, red eyed man, Naruto shook his head. "Who the heck are you?"

As he asked that, another question popped into his mind. How had his Keyblade suddenly appeared? He knew he hadn't had it in his hands while he and Little Kitty had been talking, but right before this new guy had shown up, it had popped into his hand. Maybe it was like it was warning him? Letting him know about danger before it showed up; that was awfully kind of the Keyblade. Still didn't tell him who the new threat was.

"Big Doggy-san!" Little Kitty shouted, getting Naruto to plant his face into the floor. Apparently strange names were common on this world…or was it their world? He couldn't tell right now.

"Damn it Sakura, my name's not Big Doggy!" Big Doggy shouted, snapping his head to her, though rather than real anger, it was mostly just annoyance. Little Kitty – Sakura squeaked and had enough decency to look ashamed by looking down.

Naruto, having enough time to pick himself up, frowned at the man. "Hey, I asked you a question. Who are you?"

The dark man turned to him, red eyes staring at him ominously. "My name…heh, I'll tell you later. But seriously, hand over that key, _now._"

"Why? It's not like I'm attacking anyone." Naruto's eyes trailed to the sword at the man's side. "And it's not like you don't have a sword either."

"I'm warning you, you have three seconds to hand it over before I kick some sense into you." He growled, feet sliding into a ready stance in case Naruto tried anything.

Unfortunately, Naruto took his precaution as a threatening gesture and decided that he was going to do something 'smart' now as he crossed his hands. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)!"

Multiple puffs of smoke emerged between the two, as well as around Naruto. When they cleared, they revealed multiple copies of Naruto, all with the same hand sign as the original. Staring at the man for a second, they all threw their hands into the air and ran screaming from the building.

The dark man blinked, watching them leave as his mind processed what had just happened. "…the hell? Wait, that technique, he's…" Sighing, he shook his head and glanced at Sakura. "Stay here. I'm going to go get that ninja brat before he gets us all killed."

As he left, muttering about 'stupid blond ninja's', Sakura blinked in surprise and confusion as to what had just happened. Apparently her guest had been a far more interesting person then she'd realized.

* * *

Outside, Naruto took to the rooftops with a pair of his clones hot on his heels. The rest were scattered throughout the lower levels, which meant that the dark man wouldn't find them that easily, which gave them an advantage for a little bit.

However, he now had to deal with a new disadvantage.

"What do you mean you guys can't summon this thing?" Naruto shouted, shaking his Keyblade in their face.

"Sorry boss." One of the clones muttered, staring at his hand with a frown. "We're trying, but it's just not working."

"Maybe it's so super powerful that it can only be used one at a time?" One of his clones suggested, getting a dry look in return. "…no?"

"…maybe." Naruto replied, staring the blade. "I made you guys with it in my hands, but it didn't copy the Keyblade. Maybe…maybe it's one of a kind? Like, there can be no copies of it?"

"But we're made of chakra, so that blade would be made of chakra right?" the first clone asked, scratching his head. They all stared down at it, each one curious as to why the Keyblade hadn't been replicated by his jutsu. To charge in with hundreds of clones all armed with a sword like this would've been awesome, but apparently it wasn't meant to be. The worst part was none of them could figure out why.

"Ooh!" the second clone chimed in, a new idea popping into his head. "Maybe it's from another dimension where stuff doesn't use chakra, which means we can't copy it!"

"Also possible." Naruto muttered, scratching his head. Thinking to himself, he snapped his fingers. "Maybe I just don't have the chakra control for it? Like how we were studying chakra theory and whatnot, maybe we just need to do that to figure out how to copy it."

"Or maybe you can stop trying to copy the Heartless magnet and stop running from me little ninja."

All three of them flinched and turned, seeing Big Doggy standing behind them with a dry look on his face. The first clone was the first to recover. "How did you find us already?"

"I was one of the best of the best ninja's from my world. Tracking down a brat with a sword that he doesn't know anything about wasn't that hard." Big Doggy said, rolling his eyes at the question. It hadn't helped as much as he'd thought that the kid was wearing a dull orange tracksuit, but his loud voice wasn't nearly as difficult to pick up.

"What do you mean someone I don't know anything about my sword?" Naruto growled, readying the blade between himself and the dark man. "I know more about it then you know, that's for sure!"

"…okay you might be right about that part." The man muttered, shaking his head. "Still, you don't know anything about kenjutsu. I can see it in your stance, in the way you're holding the dang thing, and the fact that you haven't given up already."

"Oh yeah? Why don't you make me then?" Naruto taunted, his grip on the Keyblade tightening.

He had no idea what he was in for.

"Suit yourself." Stepping forward, he rushed the young boy and lashed out. His foot grazed his ear, and situated itself firmly in the face of the clone who'd been standing behind him. Dodging to the side, Naruto tried to get to his feet, only to have his second clone thrown headfirst into him, the clone dispelling after they'd fallen to the ground below and crashed with a loud thud. Rolling to his feet again, he glared up at the man on the rooftops staring down at him.

"…_okay, that was new. Clones with physical bodies."_ Said man thought, inwardly impressed by the interesting tactic the boy had employed. _"Still, they're just as skilled as he is, which isn't all that much. That means he's probably one of the lesser ninja in his village. Doesn't mean I can afford to hold back on him, just that he might not have all that many other skills to use."_

Hopping down, he scowled at Naruto and lashed out with another kick. Naruto crossed his arms, unable to dodge quick enough and was launched back. Skidding across the stones, he winced as he tried rolling to his feet. Knowing better than to stay still anymore, he leapt to the side and dodged as the guy tried to grab him while he was down. Swinging his sword, he scowled as his swing went wide by the man leaning back ever so slightly to avoid it. "Come on then, are you going to show me what a _real_ sword dude is like, or are you going to just going to dodge?"

The man rolled his eyes, punching Naruto in the gut in response. As Naruto began to lose consciousness, the man spoke clearly into his ear. "Remember this about your sword; a sword is used to cut only when needed and not used to cut anything if it is not necessary." Picking Naruto up, he swatted the back of his head and pushed him into unconsciousness. "…stupid brat."

"Big Doggy-han!"

"It's Kurogane you idiot!" he shouted, whipping around to glare at his blond haired companion. "Where did you go huh? I thought we agreed to talk to this kid together,huh?"

The blond man, Fai, simply smiled as he approached him. "Aw, but then you wouldn't have gotten to have fun and taught the kid anything. And you enjoy teaching so much Kuro-wan-wan. You always seemed to be a bit happier after teaching Syaoran."

Kurogane snorted, throwing Naruto over his shoulder. "Yeah, yeah whatever." Noticing a piece of paper in the man's hand, he raised an eyebrow at it. "What's that you've got there Fai?"

"Hm? Oh it's a letter from Syaoran." Fai said, handing it to Kurogane. "Apparently he found someone while we were out."

Kurogane opened the letter skillfully with his free hand, eyes reading through the letter deftly. When he got to a certain point though, he froze and stared at it for a second. Turning the letter around, he showed what had caught his attention. "Have you seen this symbol before?"

Fai leaned forward, reading the letter till he saw the symbol that Syaoran had drawn up. "Oh? Hm. Well no, I haven't. Why, have you?"

"Yeah, I have." Kurogane muttered, lifting Naruto from his shoulder and grabbing the back of Naruto's tracksuit to let his head swing into view. "See? It's on his hiate."

Sure enough, when looking between the letter and Naruto's hiate, there was a distinct similarity to each of them. Raising an eyebrow, Fai slowly stood up. His cheerful demeanor was now absent, as a cooler, more calculating focus was now in his eyes. "Well then, that makes two from his world that have survived."

"We're some to talk, aren't we?" Kurogane remarked, raising an eyebrow at what Fai had said.

"True, but we survived because of Mokona. If we weren't world hopping at the time, we would've ended up being eaten up by those nasty Heartless on our last world. And if Yuuko weren't here, we might've kept going until we ended up in the void of space because the world had been locked up." Fai remarked, rubbing his chin in thought. "We were lucky. Others were not. For two people from his world to not only survive, but be whole is…unheard of."

Kurogane caught on to what he was saying, frowning as he thought that over. "Which means either they were lucky…"

"Or they had help." Fai completed. Staring at the Keyblade, he gently removed it from Naruto's hand and sighed. "Likely this little doohickey might also be what Yuuko is after. We'd better take it to her as soon as we can."

Shifting Naruto on his shoulder slowly, he sighed. "The boy too. He might have something to do with it. Plus, it'll give us a chance to reunite him with his friend. Regardless of whether they knew each other or not, having someone familiar to him will probably help him relax a bit."

"It didn't help that you came on really strong either." Fai said, returning to his cheerful nature. "I mean really, you just barged into my café and started demanding stuff from him? Did you even find out his name?"

"I was a ninja before I became your bodyguard, and I didn't need to find out their names then." Kurogane muttered, walking off with Naruto in hand. "Besides, from how he was talking to Sakura, he probably told her already."

"Already asked. She didn't get a chance to ask." Fai said with a shrug. "He was too busy being distracted by my genius codenames."

"Code names? You mean those stupid doggy and kitty names you had us all using?" Kurogane said, his eye twitching.

"Aw, does Big Doggy-pun not like my awesome names?" Fai asked, chuckling happily despite Kurogane's imminent rage.

Taking a deep breath, Kurogane let go of his anger and started walking to where Yuuko was. "Not really, but at least the witch knows to call me by my normal name, and not your random nickname."

"_Not to your face. At least."_ Fai thought, chuckling as she'd played along with him whenever they'd spoken alone.

Neither of them saw the figure standing on an adjacent rooftop, staring down at them with blank eyes as he watched them leave.

* * *

"Naruto-kun!"

"Simmer down, he's fine."

"But he's hurt. What happened to him?"

"He fought me when I tried talking to him, so I had to knock him out."

"You what?!"

Naruto slowly breathed out, his eyes opening as he heard two people arguing. Apparently he was conveniently waking at the right time, since it sounded like the first person had just walked in when he'd started waking up. Then again, they probably only let them in once he'd started waking up.

Slowly sitting up, he felt a firm hand pushing him into a seated position. Turning to thank them, his eyes widened as he saw who it was. "Ah! Big Doggy!"

"It'd Kurogane brat!" Kurogane shouted back, eye twitching as he turned to the other side of the room where another person was chuckling. "Don't you laugh! It's your fault that he thought that's my name Fai."

"Aw, did you have to tell him my name so soon? I was hoping he'd keep calling me Big Kitty." Fai said, pouting as his fun was ruined.

"You mean your name isn't Big Kitty?"

Naruto looked to the final person in the room, blinking as his waking mind took her in. She had short dark hair, and was wearing a heavy coat. Her pants were dark and skintight, and he could tell that she was wearing open toed sandals similar to his own. Seeing her hiate wrapped around her neck, his mind clicked and rose to her pupil-less lavender eyes. "Hinata-chan?"

Said girl glanced at him, but quickly turned her attention back to Fai. "Why did you lie to me Fai-san?"

Fai looked distraught by this, literally flailing around. "Hina-chan~ I didn't lie to you! Our identities needed to be a secret. We aren't the most unknown of individuals among other worlds, and we still have enemies who are looking for us. So I decided we needed to lay low and use undercover names so that we could be disguised."

Hinata nodded slowly, though she still seemed wary. Apparently being violently dragged away from her home had caused her to be more wary of others, and Fai's 'lie' had cost him a lot of rapport he may have developed with her. She acted like he'd kidnapped her or something along those lines.

Naruto, still confused, slowly raised his hand. "Um, question?"

"Yes Naruto-kun!" Fai said, quickly addressing him as a change of subject was clearly imminent.

"Where am I?" Naruto asked. Seeing Fai raise a hand, he pointed straight down. "I mean, now. This room, this place. I know I'm in Traverse Town thanks to Little…Sakura-chan, but –"

"Sakura-chan?" Hinata asked, glancing back to Naruto. At this point, Naruto realized that Hinata's eyes were red, likely from her crying. It made Naruto wince slightly. "She made it out okay too?"

"Eh?" Fai asked, blinking for a second before waving his hand with a nervous chuckle. "No, no not your Sakura-chan, our Sakura-chan. I call her Little Kitty-chan."

Hinata glanced a Fai, warily. "More nicknames?"

"Yep!"

"It's annoying to us too, don't worry." Kurogane cut in, pushing Fai gently to the side. "Anyways, it's time we go talk to our witch so she can tell us if you've got what we're looking for, or if you're a dud…like the rest of the people we've brought back."

"The rest of them?" Naruto asked.

"Other people from other worlds." Kurogane said, looking to Naruto with a sad look. "You two are the only two who've made it here so far from your world, and I wouldn't get your hopes up on anyone else showing up just yet. You two have proven to have rather strong hearts to even show up here in the first place. Plus, you had a bit of help."

Kurogane picked up Naruto's Keyblade, examining it slowly. As he looked at Naruto, the sword suddenly disappeared from his hands and appeared in Naruto's. All eyes snapped between the two with shock, Naruto most of all since he hadn't really been expecting it. "Whoa…"

"…yeah. Come on, let's go." Kurogane said, turning away from them so that Naruto wouldn't see his worried look.

He knew who the two of them were in a sense. Having matching headbands that had a similar design on it and ninja skills made it clear that they were ninja of a sort. However, they were just kids, which meant that their skill level wasn't quite as high as if they were older. Didn't make them any less dangerous, but the fact that they were children did get him to worry somewhat. If they did have what they needed to save the universe that meant that they were leaving their fate in the hands of children.

That didn't bode well at all in his mind.

* * *

The four of them walked slowly, two of them unaware of their final destination. Naruto had never been very close to Hinata before, but now she was practically attached to his hip as her eyes darted around worriedly. Knowing that he was the only person who was remotely familiar to her, he allowed her to be close to him, moving protectively between her and others on the street. While his Keyblade had vanished after they'd left the room, Naruto found as he paid more attention that he could still feel it in his hand; as though it were there, and yet still far away.

Their actions caught the attention of Fai and Kurogane, but neither of them said anything. They understood that they were likely going through culture shock, and that holding onto one another was their own way of handling it. At least, that's what they could tell at first glance. Both could tell that there was more to it than that, especially after Hinata had gone from friendly, to outright cold towards them after Fai's real name had been revealed. It hadn't helped much that he'd been one of the kinder of the group, going out of his way to befriend her and get to know her, which made his betrayal even after only a few hours sting more. Plus, being ninja, to find out that she'd been tricked was the final pinch of salt in the wound.

Within a few moments, they stood before a large imposing door. The young duo stared up at it in wonder and worry. What kind of a person lived here? And why did Kurogane keep calling her a witch? They knew there was only one way to find out.

Stepping forward, Naruto knocked on the door. Stepping back, Naruto raised an eyebrow as a boy opened the door. He had brown hair, and wore goggles that hung loosely around his neck. Wearing a tan cloak, both he and Hinata noticed a sharp look on his face for a moment before he noticed who was in front of them and relaxed. "Hinata-chan, it's good to see you again."

"Hello Syaoran-san." Hinata replied, bowing slightly.

Naruto, realizing that the man was the one who found her, nodded slowly as he felt himself outnumbered and surrounded by the three. He'd been attacked by one, found out that Hinata had been lied to by another, and now he was meeting the person who'd found Hinata. He couldn't make heads or tails of them, so he figured he'd just roll with it for now. If his Keyblade popped up, then he'd worry. "Um, hi. I'm Naruto. Nice to meet ya."

Syaoran nodded, opening the door a bit more with a smile. "And it's nice to meet you Naruto-san. You must be the other new arrival Kurogane-san had me send Hinata-chan to meet. I'm glad she was able to help you feel more safe. Being in a new world without friends can make one feel lost and claustrophobic."

"…personal experience?" Naruto couldn't help but ask.

"Something like that." He said, scratching the back of his head. Realizing they were all talking in the doorway, he stepped back and motioned inward. "Please, won't you come in?"

Naruto nodded, smiling slightly at the boy. Both he and Kurogane had earned some major points with him; Syaoran with being friendly and apparently open, and Kurogane because he'd had Hinata meet up with him so that they could help each other. Fai was still on his bad list, but he was willing to let time tell if he proved to be a bad guy or not. He was just so cheerful, he couldn't help but think he was a good person.

Following Syaoran down the hall, Naruto let his eyes roam around. Seeing how many things were in there, he couldn't help but grin. His mind was slowly starting to catch up with the fact they were in a new world, and the many things that were there continued to prove it, while also making him a bit excited despite himself. If there were different places for all the different things that were scattered around, then there were plenty of places to explore in the future.

Soon though, his eyes came back front and center as he found himself looking at a seated woman who stared back at him with a small smile. She wore a black dress, and had her dark hair wrapped up in a top-knot like bun. As Naruto and Hinata stared at her, they couldn't help but feel she knew something they didn't.

"Hello there." She said, looking them over as she slowly stood up and approached them. As Naruto stared at her, he felt something like a burst of energy from his hand and grit his teeth as he slipped into a defensive stance as the Keyblade burst into existence. "My, what a jumpy little boy."

"Calm down kid, she's not going to hurt you." Kurogane said, quickly placing his hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Do you remember what I told you before you blacked out, or do I need to remind you again?"

Naruto stared at the woman, every nerve screaming at him to strike out and fight her. She was threatening him, if the oppressive aura that suddenly hit was anything to go by.

"_A sword is used to cut only when needed and not used to cut anything if it is not necessary."_

Naruto took a slow breath, letting himself calm down as he focused on her more closely. After a moment of looking at her, he noticed that it wasn't her that was letting loose the oppressive feeling, but something else. He couldn't see it in the room, but that didn't stop him from scanning it worriedly.

"Hm, so that's the Keyblade." The woman muttered, looking it over and ignoring Naruto completely. "It was expecting its wielder to be…taller."

Naruto's head snapped back to her at that, angry tick mark on his forehead growing quickly at that remark. "Oi, I'm only thirteen, cut me some slack!"

She giggled softly at that, dismissing his remark. "Regardless, its power and existence are truly real, which means that this world, and many others, are in danger."

Naruto's eyes widened at that, the oppressive feeling dissipating as she said that. "What do you mean? I…who are you?"

"My name is Ichihara Yuuko, though some call me the Space-Time Witch." Yuuko said, bowing to them slightly with a smile. "When the Heartless attacked, I set up this place as a waypoint for the lost souls who might've found a way to survive."

"Heartless?" Hinata asked worriedly.

"Yes. I'm sure you've met them before if you have the Keyblade." Yuuko said, pointing at said blade. "The Heartless are born from the darkness in people's hearts, given form and desiring only to make others fall to the same fate as they themselves have fallen prey to. The Keyblade though, is the manifestation of someone with a strong heart, which draws in Heartless to it. So long as you have that sword, they will hunt you and anyone with you."

Naruto lifted his sword slowly, eyeing it warily. He'd expected it to be some kind of special blade, but to think of it as a 'manifestation of his heart' was something else entirely. "Huh, well that explains why my clones couldn't use it. I mean, they're 'me' but they're just clones." Naruto paused, scratching his head. "Or are they? Maybe I'm forgetting something."

Hinata looked at it as well, wondering what all was going on. "Um, what about our home? You said we were survivors, so does that mean…"

Yuuko looked to the girl sadly, nodding slowly. "Yes my dear, it is highly unlikely that your world lasted the onslaught of the Heartless. The fact that two of you managed to survive the destruction of your world."

Hinata's eyes widened. "But-but I'm not anyone special. I don't have a strong heart, or anything like that. And…and there were a lot of strong people in the village. Where are they? Why didn't they make it here?"

"Because they didn't have the means to pay the price of travel." Kurogane said, his eyes narrowing at the Space-Time Witch, already having an idea as to what had happened.

The two lost shinobi glanced to one another, both of them thinking something along the same lines. There were hundreds, if not thousands of shinobi on their world, but with all those people only they had gotten off. For whatever reason, they'd been the only ones to escape. The question for them to ask was obvious.

"What means are we talking about?" Naruto asked softly.

"The Keyblade was yours, with the price being giving up a place of power." Yuuko said, pointing to his sword. Turning to Hinata, she raised an eyebrow. "And for you…the method is unclear, but your family ties were what were paid." Shaking her head sadly, she let them both see that she felt sympathy for them. "I do not envy your position, having your toll forcibly called upon to save your lives."

"Forcibly?" Hinata said, still taking in everything. She'd given up her family to survive? But why, and how? Glancing to Naruto's Keyblade, she remembered how she'd seen him earlier that day. _"Maybe…his Keyblade saved me? But then what about everyone else?"_

"Normally one is asked if they want to be saved. It's part of the rules. However, in some cases, there's something attached to you that requires you to survive in order for them to survive as well. In these cases, you've essentially already given your consent, and from that they act." Yuuko said, her arms crossing as she frowned. "It's a very rare thing for something like a Keyblade to react in such a manner. Not unheard of, but unexpected none-the-less."

"Does that mean…no one else survived?" Hinata asked, feeling her heart tighten at that thought.

"…none that I know exactly where they are." Yuuko said, Kurogane and Fai both raising an eyebrow at how she'd worded her statement.

Naruto scratched his chin, thinking over what she'd just said. "So…what you're saying is, everyone's missing?"

Yuuko smile returned at that, as she covered her mouth slightly with her hand. "Oh my, it seems that someone has caught on to my wordplay."

Hinata frowned, glancing at Naruto. Naruto didn't notice, as he continued with a slowly growing grin. "So all we need to do is find them, or find our world, and they'll be fine, right?"

"Not quite that simple. You'd need to defeat the Heartless first, and once you've done that you'll be able to force them to give up their control on it. Then, perhaps, you'll win your planet back."

Naruto grinned, punching his fist into his hand before shouting his next declaration. "Alright then! I'll just have to beat up those Heartless, and force them to give us back our world!"

"Ah, but they're attacking other worlds, who will surely be lost in the crossfire." Yuuko muttered, tapping her chin. "I wonder what we'll ever do to help them, and the ones already lost…"

"I'll save them to!" Naruto shouted clenching his fists and punching into the air. "No world is too small, and no person to far away! I'll save everyone, and stop these Heartless from taking them over."

"Oh? So now the fate of the universe is in the hands of a brat?" Kurogane asked, although he had to admit that Naruto had some spunk to say such a thing so confidently.

Naruto rounded on Kurogane, his face steeled with determination etched into it. "I never go back on my word. That is my nindo, by way of the ninja."

Yuuko's smile grew ever so slightly as she stepped forward. "Well then, you'll need a ship as a means to travel, as I'm sure you both don't want to use the payment option again after the last time you had to pay. However, there will of course be a cost for the ship, and its captain."

"Oh yeah?" Naruto asked, crossing his arms confidently. "And what's that?"

"There is a group of Heartless who have arrived in the lower areas, one of which has grown particularly powerful. They've even gotten their hands on your captain, which means that you'll need to defeat the Heartless before you can get to him." Yuuko shrugged, smiling as she explained. "Your payment is simple; defeat the Heartless, and you'll get your ship, and save the captain so that he'll be able to pilot you. All in all, you don't have nearly as much to do as some others might have otherwise."

"Is that all? Well then, I'll just have to beat it up, and then we'll bring our captain back so we can head out and save our world!" Naruto shouted, punching the air with his fist.

Hinata frowned, not sure what she thought of this matchup. It sounded simple enough, especially since all they had to do was one thing which would then allow them to get them several rewards which they needed in order to travel between worlds. While she herself wasn't too keen on world jumping, her best bet of getting home was with Naruto. Smiling slightly, she nodded. "I'll come with you."

"Are you sure Hinata-san?" Syaoran asked, looking to her with a worried look in his eyes. "Other worlds might be dangerous, and there's a possibility you may never be able to come back."

"Don't worry." Hinata said, glancing to Naruto. "I have the best person to travel with me. If there's anyone I'd want to do this with, it's Naruto-kun."

"Aw, thanks Hinata-chan, that means a lot."

Hinata froze, realizing what she'd just said, and that it was in front of Naruto. Naruto had just heard her say all of that. And with this realization, she came to the sudden realization that she was awfully close to him. Closer then she'd ever been to him before. Her face began slowly glowing red as she struggled to breathe properly. Then, when she was caught swaying by Naruto, who had a look of concern, she lost it and passed out against him.

Naruto, in typical Naruto fashion, reacted in a manner that expressed his confusion, as well as his naivety and lack of experience with these kinds of situations. "Oi, Hinata-chan! What's wrong? Are you alright? Aw man, what happened? Hey guys, we need to call a doctor. Uh, guys? Why are you laughing at me? What's so funny?"

* * *

Later, after they'd revived Hinata, Naruto and Hinata had made their way to the lower levels of the city. They'd stopped a few times to chat with random people who they'd come across, trying to get a feel for the world around them. It'd been a bit odd, getting used to things, but then with all the strange people who were running around, they blended in a lot better than they would've expected in any other village. But then, they were all survivors, and they were all the last of their worlds.

Naruto found himself getting more and more determined to save all their worlds with each person he spoke with. He'd seen plenty of interesting people, which had made him happy, but beyond that his fortitude and resolve were what was growing with each person he'd spoken to. The Heartless had destroyed people's homes, upset their lifestyles, and forced them into solitude. He wouldn't let them get away with it.

After moving to a set of very large and imposing doors, Naruto glanced to Hinata. Cracking his knuckles, he grinned. "You ready for this Hinata-chan?"

"Mhmm." Hinata said softly, trying to focus forward so that she didn't pass out in front of him again.

"Well then." Naruto put his hands on the door, pushing them open with gusto. "Let's go!"

Striding confidently, Naruto and Hinata entered the abandoned lower levels of the city. After they'd gotten to an overlook, that gave them a better view of the buildings. Before they could take too much in, the doors slammed shut behind them. They glanced back, blinking curiously at what had just happened. From what they could tell, the citizens had closed the doors just as they'd left. That was a bit concerning in Hinata's mind, but Naruto brushed it off as 'just being weird'.

As they turned back though, they were shocked to see a man running in front of them. Just before he reached them, he stumbled and fell, a black claw slashing across his back. Rather than any sort of physical wound, the man's body shuddered, slowly arching back as a crystal-like heart emerged from him. The moment it happened, his body slowly shattered, disappearing before them, while the heart was consumed by darkness, giving birth to a helmed shadow that stared at them blankly before disappearing.

"…um…what the heck?" Naruto blinked, slowly pointing to where the creature had disappeared. "Did…it just disappear?"

Hinata prepared herself to reply, but then stopped. Turning to Naruto, not even her shyness held her back from her shock as his focus. "A man is turned into some black monster, and that's the first thing you think about?"

"Well, yeah." Naruto said, blinking in returned confusion. "I mean, where did his body go? It was there one second, gone the next."

"…oh." Hinata blushed. "I thought…you were talking about that shadow monster."

"Oh that thing. That was a Heartless…I think." Shrugging helplessly, Naruto found his focus diverted to other shadows. Other, more familiar blob-like shadows. "Uh yeah, that was a Heartless. And so are these guys coming at us now."

Hinata turned to the shadows, activating her Byakugan in preparation for battle. As she did so, her eyes widened. "Naruto-kun! The Heartless don't have a chakra system or…or anything familiar for me to strike. My Jyuuken won't work as well against them."

"That's okay Hinata-chan." Naruto said, his Keyblade snapping into his hand with a flourish. "Just hit where you can, and then I'll finish them off!"

Rushing into the small group, Naruto smacked the first one that began lumbering their way. Hinata noticed that they hadn't actually started attacking until the Keyblade came out, but figured that it just proved what Yuuko had said to them. Hesitating for a second, she too followed him into the battle.

Naruto grinned as he rolled around the Heartless and continued what could only be considered an onslaught. None of the Heartless had any skills or forethought, somewhat like the old Naruto in a way, which mean that with all the experience Naruto had gained he was able to sweep through them with little to no problem. He felt like he was on top of the world with how much skill he currently had.

At least, they started out easy enough. Right as he was getting into a groove, one of the Heartless decided to change things up. Using its abilities, it dropped into the ground and became a shadow once more. This caused Naruto to slip up as he missed, stumbling forward and past the Heartless who popped out of the ground and swung wildly at his back.

Luckily for him, Hinata wasn't nearly as caught off guard. While the Heartless had no chakra or chakra systems to strike, they had enough similarity to human that she knew its main weaknesses; the head and joints. When the Heartless threw off Naruto, she spun to it with wide eyes. Ignoring the other Heartless around her, she raced through them and focused on that one Heartless. Before it could fully pull its arm back, she had struck its elbow and shoulder, before slamming her hand against its head. The shadows of the Heartless where she'd hit turned to a goo-like substance as it fell to the ground. Panting slightly, she winced as she felt the other Heartless approaching. Closing her eyes, she cut the chakra to her eyes so she wouldn't see the final blows.

Before she could get too worried about that, she felt something or someone hit the ground behind them. Both of them froze, unsure who else was around here. Turning around, they both blinked as they realized that the Heartless that had once been there were now gone, no trace of them or any sort of attack left in their place.

Glancing to one another, Naruto slowly shrugged. Hinata glanced up towards the roofs, but couldn't see anyone. Staring at each other, they nervously began continuing deeper into the city.

On the rooftop, someone stared down at them, a blank look on his face as he resisted the urge to jump down and stand by them. He was still trying to figure out what was going on with these creatures, but to see Naruto recklessly jumping in…he couldn't help but find it both reckless and completely what he'd expect from him. After their battle, he'd proven he was headstrong, bullheaded, and unpredictable. Even he had been unsure about what Naruto would do until he'd stepped out and began making his way over.

Staring out to where they were headed, he frowned. He'd been listening in on some of the townsfolk, and didn't like that they were running headfirst into something that most if not all there feared. Not because there was no one there would could take it on, but because none were sure _how_ to take it one. The creature was different in the fact that many of them had different opinions on how to handle them, and what to do about them, which meant they were more often in conflict with one another than with the Heartless themselves. It was concerning how effective the Heartless were when it came to simply letting discord spread on its own while they continued existing.

* * *

After a couple more skirmishes with the Heartless, with no more confusing additions, they made their way to the third and final section of the city. Naruto was teeming with confidence, ready for the oncoming fight. Hinata on the other hand was nervous, trying to remain careful, while consistently activating her Byakugan on occasion to check for more Heartless. Occasionally she thought she'd seen something on the very edge of her vision, but it turned out to be nothing. At least, that's what she tried convincing herself it was.

"Woo! Man that was something else." Naruto said, grinning after another fight with the Heartless. The normal Heartless were goon-like, barely passing for thugs at best, but they were different, and challenging. Just the way Naruto liked it. "You're doing awesome Hinata-chan!"

Hinata nodded, unsure of what she thought of everything. In her case, she was beginning to catch on to something she'd missed earlier, but didn't want to tell Naruto. Not yet at least.

Seeing more shadows forming, Naruto punching his hand with a confident grin. "Bring it on!"

As he said this, a small group of Heartless materialized; Heartless with the same helms that they hadn't seen since the first Heartless. Noting this, Naruto blinked and scratched his head. Before he could say anything, they were lumbering towards him, their helms rattling with each step ominously.

Not willing to let themselves be caught off guard, the two rushed to meet them. Colliding with the Heartless, Naruto's Keyblade caught the first Heartless in the head, its helm being the only thing that kept it from losing said head. Not stopping there, Naruto ducked down and swept the feet from the next Heartless, tripping it up into Hinata's oncoming strike as she struck the Heartless. Turning slightly to the side, she danced around the Heartless' attacks and hit another in the chest. She didn't know how good the helms were, but since they'd protected their heads it left their chests as the far more viable target.

Striking another Heartless in their shoulder, she bent backward so that she was almost at a ninety degree angle with her body. As she did so, Naruto swung his Keyblade over her and knocked the Heartless into the air, moving in to defend her. In their own way, they'd begun developing a synchronization that worked for the two of them. Hinata trusted Naruto to strike when her guard was down, and Naruto knew Hinata could see what he couldn't. Working in tandem, the Heartless, even the stronger of the Heartless, were proving no match.

With a flourish of the Keyblade, Naruto grinned as he stabbed down on the last Heartless they were fighting. He wasn't necessarily _intending_ to make his sword strikes flashy or anything like that, they just happened to. At least, that's what he was telling himself. Kurogane's remark about being able to see how inexperienced he was though worried him, especially with how _quickly _he'd seen it. Sure he'd never picked up a sword before in his life, but he was no push over either.

Hinata knocked her last opponent back, panting softly as she glanced at Naruto. She was getting tired from the strenuous fighting and constant usage of her Byakugan, but she wasn't going to let herself show her weakness to her inspiration. If he could power through his exhaustion, then so could she. She'd done it before, and if anything she felt she was actually doing _much_ better then she'd done on many of her missions. It was mainly because the Heartless were far enough from human to help her focus on attacking them rather than freezing up due to her dislike of harming others. Still, it was something, and she was happy with that.

"_Still, I should tell Naruto-kun…no, I don't need to worry him now. Later, when we aren't fighting."_ Hinata thought, inwardly wishing she could just outright say it.

"Well, if these are the big bad guys that are getting everyone worked up, then this'll be a breeze!" Naruto said, interlocking his hands behind his head as he made his way towards the nearby fountain. "I mean sure, they're hard and all, but they could be harder."

Almost as though the universe heard him, an ominous presence made itself known to them. It was a hollow, metallic clanging noise that caused them both to flinch as they looked around for it. From above, a metallic chest plate fell before them, an odd red marking – like a heart with a stitched up x through it – in the center. A second later, a pair of feet and arms dropped down next to it as well, the harms hovering near the chest. With a loud bang, a circular helm dropped onto the chest plate and synched with the entirety of the suit, causing it to rise up before them threateningly.

"Huh, well I guess that thing was bored too." Naruto muttered, raising his eyebrow at it. A giant suit of armor; not his first idea when it came to fighting super powerful creatures of doom, but he'd work with it.

Hinata wasn't as confident. With the other Heartless, she had a clear view at their weak points and had easy enough methods of dealing with them. With this…it was a giant floating set of armor. Without charka systems, she had nothing she could target, and no way in which she could fight against it. Suddenly, she felt rather small as her skills were rendered inert.

Before she could voice her concern, Naruto had already rushed into the fight and was dodging and weaving through the Heartless' strikes. Biting her lip, she decided the least she could do was run interference. Racing between its legs, she struck the steel wherever she could, still unable to find any way of harming the creature. As it raised a leg to stomp on her, she was surprised to find herself tackled to the side away from the armor being a moment before it was able to take her down. With a blink of confusion, she glanced to her savior and felt herself flush as she realized it was Naruto.

"Man I love shadow clones." Naruto said happily, skidding away from the impact. When they glanced upwards, they saw another Naruto using the armor's arm as a springboard as he swung wildly to hit the Heartless in the head.

Hinata couldn't help but smile at the fact that Naruto had taken a moment to send a shadow clone to help her. Clone or not, he'd still been the one to help save her regardless. Before she could thank the clone as it set her down, the clone's eyes widened as she shoved her away. Her eyes widened as well, the armor's arm slammed down onto the clone and dispelled it. Prone, and unable to move quick enough, she flinched as the armor brought its foot down on her.

"Hinata!" Naruto shouted, slamming his Keyblade into the armor's head before launching himself down. He didn't know any way of saving someone, but he couldn't just let himself stay there while she was being crushed. He'd barely taken two steps before he stopped and realized that something was off.

Rather than having stepped down fully onto her, the armor's foot was merely hovering over her, struggling against something else. Looking closer, his eyes widened as he grinned widely. He knew what it was, and he could recognize it anywhere.

"Go Naruto-san."

"Right!" Naruto shouted, turning back to the armor. Leaping up onto its chest, he ran up the length of it. With it somewhat distracted by Hinata, he was able to get up to its head, dodging its flailing arms deftly before leaping above it. "Time to go."

Bringing down the Keyblade, his smirk grinned as it cleaved though the helm of the Heartless, causing the arms and legs to fall apart as it collapsed on itself. From the chest plate, a large glowing heart slowly rose out, lighting up the dark night sky before its glow slowly dissipated. Panting softly from the effort, he slowly turned to the foot, which was still barely hovering where it once was.

"Thanks Gaara!" Naruto shouted, turning to a nearby rooftop.

Standing there in the moonlight, Gaara stood with his arms out, focusing on the sand that was acting as a barrier between Hinata and the foot. With a small grunt of effort, Gaara forced it away from Hinata so that it would collapse away from her. Sighing as his job was done, he stepped forward onto a platform of sand. Letting the sand gently lowered him down to the ground, Gaara couldn't help the very small smile from crossing his face.

Naruto grinned far more widely and openly as he ran up to Gaara, presumably to hug him or something of that nature. However, he soon found himself blocked by a wall of sand that prevented him from getting close enough to hug him, mainly because Gaara wasn't in a very hugging mood. "…nice to see you too Gaara."

Gaara rubbed the bridge of his nose, not used to Naruto's more friendly antics yet. "Yes, it is…nice to see you too Naruto."

Behind him, Hinata had slowly gotten to her feet and was staring at the two boys. Part of her was relieved since Naruto had defeated the Heartless and that meant they were going to be able to continue onwards in saving the worlds. The other part of her was nervous, seeing how the person who'd saved her she'd seen crush a team with sand in the Chunin Exams second test. She'd never imagined that he'd be the one to save her from being crushed by another being intent on killing her.

Oh the irony.

Glancing back to the Heartless in an attempt to distract herself, she blinked as she noticed a gem in the middle of where the shell of the Heartless remained. Walking over to it, she knelt next to it and picked it up gently. It was a sharply colored orange crystal, that glimmered in a way that seemed to almost exude strong willpower that made her shudder in its presence. Picking it up, she noted it was bigger than her hand, although it didn't really weigh much at all. Running her fingers over it, she smiled softly as she slowly stood up with in in her hands. Holding it to the moonlight, she felt surprised by just how much stronger that previous feeling became, and her smile grew slightly larger.

"Oh, what's that you got there Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked, popping up behind her.

Squeaking at his sudden appearance, Hinata almost dropped the crystal, but luckily for her and the crystal, Gaara was quick on his feet and had his sand whip around to cushion its fall. As he lifted it back to her, she hesitantly took it from the sand and glanced to him. "Thank you Gaara-san."

"…not a problem." Gaara replied after a moment. There was an odd sensation he was feeling, though where it was coming from, he couldn't tell. Unlike the other two, he hadn't had the luxury of having someone explain some of what was going on, which meant he felt even more lost than they had been.

Naruto picked up the crystal, looking it over curiously. "Uh…is this our captain? Huh, that's funny, I thought when she said 'captain' that it would be…well a person or something. Not a crystal." Smiling, he shrugged and put it into his pocket. "Oh well, I guess if there's weird stuff around here, there's a world out there where ships can be powered by crystal's or something." Hopping to his feet, he started racing his way into the town. "Come on you guys, let's get going!"

The other two glanced at each other for a moment before slowly following after him. In a way, he was a source of comfort to them. If he hadn't changed through all this, maybe they could get through this as well.

* * *

"So, he is another from your world?" Yuuko asked, raising an eyebrow curiously as she stared at Gaara.

Gaara, for his part, was calm and collected in her presence. Bowing to her slightly, he spoke with his usual, calm demeanor. "My name is Subaku no Gaara (Gaara of the Desert). And from what I've been told, you are Jikuu Majo no Yuuko (Yuuko the Space-Time Witch). Naruto has…spoken highly of you."

Yuuko raised an eyebrow at the way Gaara had addressed her. While she herself chose to speak her title in a way that some might consider comforting, and might be considered simpler for others, he'd gone straight for saying it in a way that made her sound almost like she was an enemy, or someone not to be taken lightly. She smiled at the simple way he'd essentially told her he didn't trust her. "Well, I'd hope so. Naruto-san has shown himself to be quite the little hero, promising to save all the worlds he comes across."

"And I totally will, dattebayo!" Naruto proclaimed confidently, grinning from ear to ear. "And if you don't believe me, look at what we already did. We just took out that big bad Heartless in town, no sweat." Glancing to Hinata and Gaara, he scratched his cheek sheepishly. "Though, honestly if Gaara hadn't shown up when he did, I don't know if we would've won."

Hinata and Gaara both stared at him with shock, though Gaara's was more difficult to notice. Naruto had done by far the most damage to the Heartless, and had ultimately delivered the finishing blow. Yet despite that, and despite how little they had truly done to help, Naruto had attributed what sounded like a large portion of his victory to Gaara. It was somewhat humbling to see how little of the credit Naruto wanted for helping people.

Luckily for them, Yuuko didn't care about giving credit. "Hm, that's true. You held up your end of the bargain, so I will uphold my own. Your ship will be ready in the morning. In the meantime, I trust you brought your captain with you?"

Naruto nodded, handing over the orange crystal. Yuuko took the crystal, running her fingers over it gently. As she did so, Fai, who was sitting with the others in another corner of the room, perked up. "Is that?"

"Yes." She replied, holding the crystal out in front of her. "When some worlds are consumed, there are those whose hearts are strong but are unable to retain their physical form. Those people become crystals, and occasionally they end up on a world where they can be taken and their souls can be unlocked. It'll only be usable in your ship, seeing how I've added a source of magic to power this crystal so that he'll be able to act and work on piloting the ship to your ultimate destination. However, I find that it'd be simply rude for me to not allow you to meet your pilot beforehand."

Closing her eyes, she channeled some magic into the gem. Naruto and his group glanced at each other, eyes widening slightly as their minds caught onto what she was saying. The other three were watching curiously as well, and none of them were disappointed as they saw the crystal expand in a glow of light.

The man who stood before them was tall and lanky, standing before them with his chest bare to them and shoulders rolled back proudly. There was an air of nobility about him, which was only added to with the long red cape that fell from his shoulders. His arms were lazily held up by the katana he had rested on his shoulders, showing off his strong musculature. The most striking feature about him though was his spikey blue hair and the pointed orange glasses that rested on the bridge of his nose.

"Just who the hell do you think I am!?"

* * *

AN: The answer? If you don't know, then you need to watch more anime.

So yes, Naruto's current team is; Naruto, Hinata, and Gaara. I honestly thought over using some of the other characters, but when it came down to it, plot told me that Gaara would be useful for later, and Hinata will be the one who'll grow the most from all of this seeing how her attacks require her to get in close...and the Heartless have no chakra systems. Yeah. People though...I'll go into that later.

Gaara will also be fun to play around with around...world 3 if I remember right. Oh world 3 is _weird_ but should be fun all the same. Unless I drop that one...but that would be a bad idea, since it has humor and character growth. So much of that...ah, good stuff that.

And in case anyone was wondering, Naruto remembered what Kurogane said because he doesn't know _jack_ about kenjutsu, so any form of advice would stick with him and he'd hold onto that in an attempt to see if it actually works. He'll see the biggest flaw it has with him eventually, but not just yet.

Till next time, where Naruto's team will reach their first world and meet the shortest bad guy of the bunch, Guru out!


	3. World Guided By Stars

Hey there, Guru here, enjoying life, and writing more of this. As a "suggestion", read all the way through my AN at the bottom; I have a poll of sorts, because I want to know how you want Gaara to show off his awesome skillz.

But~ until you get to that point, enjoy the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any anime I reference.

* * *

**Naruto: Anime's Apart**

_World Guided by Stars_

The group sat around a small table, having been graciously been given some time alone to speak with their captain. Of them all, Naruto was having the most difficulty sitting still, and was squirming in his seat. Gaara and Hinata, both having been through lessons that helped refine them as well as having needed to show composure before others, were clearly more at ease with everything going on. To their surprise though, although their captain was composed, he was also picking up food every so often and quickly scarfing it down whenever he had a second's opportunity.

"So, you're from another world?" Hinata asked conversationally, trying to break the stillness.

"Yup."

"And your world is…" Gaara started to say, but then paused, not sure if their captain would find it rude to bring up or not.

"Yup." Apparently he didn't seem all that concerned about it.

Naruto stared at the man, blinking slowly before crossed his arms. Humming, and getting everyone's attention, he thought over something intently. Scrunching up his face, he stared at the man through half-closed eyes as he scrutinized him. Then, with a grin and a nod of confidence, he finally proclaimed his thoughts. "Yep, I've decided. You have _got_ to teach me how to give kickass speeches Kamina-san!"

While Gaara and Hinata deadpanned at this the man, Kamina, grinned right back. "Kid, speeches like the one I gave aren't something I can teach, they just come to ya." Poking Naruto's forehead, he smirked as Naruto pouted. "You gotta ignore the thinking part and just act. Speak from your heart, and everything will come to ya."

"…speak from my heart and not with my head huh?" Naruto asked, putting a hand over his heart in contemplation.

"So in other words, just do what your normally do Naruto." Gaara said, traces of mirth in his tone. He remembered what Naruto had told him after he'd been defeated, as well as during the fight with Neji. If there was anyone who could relate to what Kamina had just said Naruto was the man for it.

Hinata smiled as well, also knowing what Gaara meant. Naruto certainly wasn't one to think things through before acting; he acted on instinct, and used his heart more than his head. In its own way, it was rather comforting, and hearing Kamina say he spoke with his heart helped her feel a bit more confident in the man. "So, Kamina-san, you have skills at being a captain of a ship?"

All three of them looked at each other, looking rather confused about the subject. They knew of boats and ships and things of that nature, but that didn't meant that they were able to understand how a ship could get them from world to world.

"Of course! I was the captain of the great team Gurren Lagann, and the pilot of one of the greatest ships in the universe." Kamina replied with a nod. "With that baby, me and my little man Simon were able to get to the surface and fight the Beasts that locked us in the underground. Ah, good times."

Gaara nodded slowly, thinking over what Kamina was saying. If he had a team he was a leader of, he was likely well respected by those people; enough that they would allow him to be their leader if nothing else. However, this did bring a question to mind. "If you were a captain, does that mean you were never personally involved with the workings of your ship?"

"Hell no!" Kamina said looking rather put off by Gaara's question. "I was right there in the thick of it, driving my ship into battle with Simon, causing all kinds of trouble and raising hell."

His declaration made Gaara and Hinata a bit more nervous, not sure if _this_ kind of captain was what they needed. Naruto however, "Ha! I like you Kamina. I bet you're going to be totally awesome as our captain!"

Kamina's smirk widened at him saying that. Patting Naruto on the back, he turned to the others. "Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's get headin out and kicking the Heartless out of other people's worlds!"

* * *

Yuuko smiled as she approached the hanger where their ship was waiting, the other four trailing behind. As the doors opened, she made a sweeping gesture to introduce their ship. "There she is, your vessel to other worlds; the Bebop."

The ship was bulky, a sort of dark brown coloring covering it, with large steel-looking engines in the back. To those who knew anything about boats, it was apparent that the design was meant to be used near aquatic areas, most likely a trawler of some sort. A keen eye would also note that the ship had extensive reconfiguring as well, mainly in the back where the engines were, meaning the ship had not originally been made for travelling like they'd be.

"Wow, that's a big looking ship." Naruto muttered, the steel behemoth before him making him feel rather small.

Gaara raised an eyebrow at the vessel amazed by how impressively made it was. Having lived in a land of sand, seeing vessels of any sort caught his attention and interest. This one's design as well as the manner in which it appeared to have been made him raise an eyebrow and inwardly wish he could inspect it more to discover more about it.

Hinata raised her hands up with a single finger pointed up, activating her Byakugan to search the inside of the ship from where she stood. What she could see made her gasp, the inner workings beyond her comprehension as her eyes darted about in an attempt to take it all in. This meant she was a bit distracted, and missed Kamina leaning over at her gasp to look at her.

"Whoa, what's up with your eyes?" Kamina asked, clearly not as interested in the ship. It was a nice ship to be sure, but after piloting the Gurren Lagann, it looked tame in comparison. Hinata's new facial additions of bulging veins and suddenly getting pupils on what was otherwise blank lavender eyes, was more interesting.

Hinata flinched, quickly drawing back her bloodline and stepped back. Remembering where she was, and once more feeling surrounded, she stepped closer to Naruto in an attempt at protecting herself. Feeling Hinata move near her, Naruto once more fell into step at standing in front of her, acting as a sort of shield between her and everyone else.

"…was it something I said?" Kamina asked, blinking at the sudden change in her demeanor.

Gaara was also confused by her reaction to his inquiring about her obvious bloodline. While curiosity wasn't generally something that was appreciated amongst ninja, Kamina was clearly not a ninja. He didn't hold himself in the way of a trained warrior, and from what he understood from what they'd been told, his skills lay in leadership and piloting ships. Regardless, Hinata had acted like he'd tried to reach for her eyes and take them out.

Naruto didn't get it either, but he could tell she wasn't comfortable about his question. Before anything could be said, Yuuko responded. "It's a trait she has from her world, which is honestly a good point to be made at the moment."

All of them turned to Yuuko questioningly, to which she had a ready answer. "When you travel to different worlds, there will often times be different rules then your own world, which means that what you consider 'normal' could be supernatural to them, and even dangerous. Be cautious who you reveal your abilities to, and do try your best not to meddle in their affairs. They've lived their lives without your assistance before, and you're new abilities might cause them to…behave different than if you had never come."

"Uh…" Naruto looked away slowly, his mind already going over several ways that they were likely going to be 'meddling'. Defeating Heartless wasn't exactly sitting back on the sidelines after all.

"I don't expect you to be perfect," Yuuko amusedly said, catching where Naruto's mind had drifted. "I'm just warning you ahead of time. Your friend's eyes aren't normal by any means, and in some worlds they will want to 'acquire' her and determine how they work."

Hinata shivered, drawing in on herself as her mind replayed old memories of a similar incident. And that had been on _their_ world, where they actually knew what their enemies could do. With the idea of multiple new worlds, she realized that her bloodline was like painting a big bulls-eye on her and asking for them to face off against enemies they might not be able to face otherwise. Inwardly though, she did have one small new piece of information that gave her some comfort, if only some; Kamina had a chakra system, which meant that people from other worlds likely had them too.

She could defend herself, should the need arise.

Naruto shook his head, gritting his teeth and throwing his hands defensively in front of Hinata. "Well I won't let them! If they come after her, I'll just have to defend all my friends and keep them safe!"

"…spoken like a true man." Kamina said, grinning as light crested his glasses.

Naruto nodded, crossing his arms and stared at Yuuko confidently. After a moment of the staring match, Gaara cut in. "What's the catch?"

"Ah, you're a sharp one." Yuuko said, smirking at the suspicious look on Gaara's face and the confused look on Naruto, Hinata, and Kamina's. "This information comes with a price of course, which Gaara has suspected. My price though, may be considered more of a request, seeing how it'll keep you in touch."

As she said this, a little white figure popped over her shoulder; a rather familiar little figure. "Hi there! I'm Mokona."

"…there is a talking meat bun on her shoulder." Naruto stated plainly.

"Well that's different." Kamina said, scratching his head as said 'meat bun' hopped over and landed in Hinata's arms.

Hinata blinked, staring down at Mokona with a small flinch. "Um, hello?" Mokona smiled at her, nuzzling her gently. With a slow smile of her own, Hinata gently patted Mokona's head. "I'm Hyuuga Hinata. It's…nice to meet you."

Gaara barely gave Mokona a glance before returning his gaze to Yuuko. "So the catch is you want us to take this creature of yours with us, no questions asked?"

"That depends." Yuuko said, smiling impishly. "Do you want to pay for more information?"

Gaara let the statement sink in, frown just barely noticeable on his face before he turned to the ship. "Fine. Let's go."

Before he could get into the ship though, Yuuko's voice cut in. "Oh, and since I feel that you deserve just a bit more information…I'd suggest you do something about that gourd. It's just as tell-tale as the girl's technique that you aren't exactly from their world."

Gaara glanced behind her, frowning at that tidbit of information. His gourd gave him his automatic defense, as well as allowed him to carry chakra laden sand around so that he wouldn't constantly waste chakra making more for his techniques, and could use that sand to make more. To ask him to essentially 'hide it away' seemed a bit much. From the look in her eyes though, he could see no traces of deceit from her; that he could see at least. "I'll consider it."

"That's all that really can be done I suppose." Yuuko said, shrugging slightly as she turned to leave. "Take care of Mokona while you're out."

Hinata frowned at that, feeling that the last state statement was the price for her information to Gaara. While not necessarily meant for him alone, she could guess that it also wouldn't be an easy challenge either. Especially if they were 'hiding' things from the people of other worlds; Mokona was going to stick out like a sore thumb, even if he wouldn't have been _too_ much of a sore thumb on their world.

After watching her leave, Naruto punched his fist into the air. "Alright, what are we waiting for?! Let's get heading out! New worlds await, and we've got lots of people we need to save along the way. You guys ready?"

Slowly nodding, Gaara and Hinata continued looking after where Yuuko had left. Suddenly, the were beginning to realize just how much they would stick out among other worlds compared to Naruto. Staring at their enthusiastic blond, it became clear that _Naruto,_ the orange wearing, blond haired, loudmouthed knucklehead, was going to stand out the _least_ in their group.

What an odd concept to think about.

* * *

When travelling, boredom is your worst enemy. With little to do, and often even less to take care of, boredom can cause madness and even moments of insanity if one isn't careful. Space could be considered considerably worse, since there are no stops between where you are and your destination; it's all or nothing, with a requirement to entertain yourself to boot. After even a week, the time can feel like months, and even as though the ship around them was closing in. With companions it's easier to manage though. They can help one manage their boredom, as well as their sanity by telling each other about themselves and helping with different troubles they might have.

"Gaara, let me down!"

With the right companions that is.

Gaara rubbed his temples gently, staring up at his friend that he'd pinned to the ceiling after a minor scuffle in the living room. It had been a simple, minor mix-up, but Gaara was beginning to see what Hinata had meant when she'd told him that Naruto had been considered a nuisance at his home when he was younger. As a prankster, boredom was worse for him since that meant he would begin pulling mischievous pranks on people.

It had clearly meant to be used for conversation, but now he wasn't so sure. He'd heard Naruto had turned over a new leaf, something he'd chuckled at softly, but after the same thing happening multiple times around Naruto it wasn't looking good for the boy.

"You weren't paying attention to your surroundings Naruto-san." Gaara said slowly, staring up at the sand pinned blond. "If you had, you would have noticed my sand before it was around you and had you."

"Yeah well, I wasn't expecting you to do that either." Naruto grumbled, shifting in the sand uncomfortably.

Gaara was calm, and collected, but for what he was asking he was beginning to worry that he might snap at the blond soon. "Then would you care to explain why I ended up having my drink knocked over…again?"

Naruto winced, looking away as he muttered. When the pressure increased slightly, Naruto finally shouted. "I was training okay!"

Eyes narrowing, Gaara made no sign of moving. When Naruto realized that the pressure let up, Naruto motioned to the sand. "Can you let me down? I can show you what I was trying to do."

Slowly, though admittedly with reluctance, Gaara let him down. He kept some sand pooled around Naruto's legs, just in case. "This had better be good Naruto."

Naruto nodded, rolling his shoulders. Holding out a hand, he gripped it with his other arm as he concentrated. With great concentration, a ball of chakra began slowly forming, swirling in the palm of his hand. As it spun, Gaara noticed that it seemed to be attempting to struggle outwards, but Naruto was fighting it back into its ball shape. Without the control needed to do so, the ball exploded outwards. Seeing how the 'wind' from Naruto's technique was rather strong, activating his automatic defense. Gaara found some of the sand particles on his face brushed away to his surprise as traces of the chakra reached him.

"…I see." Gaara said slowly, brushing his hand across his face as he willed sand to return his thin shell of sand armor into place. The fact that even _some_ of the backlash had reached him was surprising. Clearly the attack was stronger then he'd expected. "And what sort of technique is that?"

"It's called the rasengan." Naruto said, clenching his fist at the failure. Sighing, he formed a cross hand seal and summoned a clone. Using the clone to help balance the control, he held a completed rasengan before Gaara. "This is what it's supposed to look like, but I can't do it without a clone helping me yet. Ero-sennin did it all on his own, and if we're not supposed to draw attention, the rasengan would be easy enough to use. My clones…maybe not so much?"

Inwardly, Gaara was impressed by Naruto's forethought. While a part of him was sure that Naruto was only doing it for destructive potential, seeing how it'd gotten through his shield, it did have merit elsewhere. However, "We do not know the abilities of those we'll meet. For all we know, creating clones won't be the most outrageous thing they've ever seen."

"Really?" Naruto asked, suddenly perking up.

Seeing Naruto's change in expression, Gaara raised an eyebrow. "Is that such a surprising thing?"

"No, no…I just…" Naruto slowly scratched his cheek, looking away with a despondent look. "I don't have summons. I tried to summon Gamakichi, you know the little red toad I summoned when I was fighting you? Anyways, I tried to summon him, and…nothing. A poof of smoke and then nothing."

That was concerning. However, it also made sense. "Clearly the summons were connected to our world. With our world gone, they were taken too."

Naruto flinched at that, having a couple fond memories of Gamakichi despite everything that'd happened whenever he'd summoned him. "So…more people to save huh? I can do that." Clenching his fist, he sighed softly. "I gotta…"

Seeing Naruto's attitude shift again, Gaara frowned slightly. "Something wrong Naruto?"

As he asked this, Naruto visibly flinched. He slowly turned up his lips in a forced smile. "Nothing. It's just a silly thought I had. I'll be fine."

Before Gaara could say anything else, Naruto stepped back and slipped into the other room. Gaara just watched him leave, slowly crossing his arms and shaking his head. Thinking over everything he'd seen from Naruto, he allowed his frown to become completely visible as he noted what his friend had left out.

"I know what you're worried about Naruto. The question is…what will you do about it?" Gaara asked softly. Then, turning his head towards another corner of the room, he spoke up. "And what about you? What will you do, Hinata-san?"

There was a short moment of silence before Hinata slowly stepped out from around the corner. Staring at Gaara, she bit her lip and sighed. "How long have you known I was there?"

"I've known for a while." Gaara replied, slowly sitting down. Hesitantly, he removed his gourd and placed it to the side. His arm was rested near the gourd, giving him access so that if he needed to do anything with his sand he could. "You've had a habit of coming closer to me whenever Naruto is around, though I rarely see you otherwise. Your Byakugan is quite something if you've been using it to avoid me."

Hinata glanced away, knowing that only he and Naruto would know about the details of her Byakugan. Being able to see through solid objects and even into people made surveillance and reconnaissance easy, but when one was doing it within a team where one could sense where she was meant she was more easily found out.

"I haven't mentioned it to Naruto, seeing how he doesn't necessarily need to know." Gaara said softly, tenting his fingers as he leaned towards her. "However, I do feel I have a right to know why."

The two stared at each other for a moment, silence reigning as Gaara waited for Hinata, who wasn't as cooperative as he might've believed her to be before. She stood defiant, staring down at him as she thought of what to say. He noted her eyes darting to where Naruto had left, which did cause his curiosity to grow a bit more. Whatever her reasoning was, he was slowly deducing that Naruto had a part to play in it; perhaps even, Naruto was the center of her reasoning.

Gaara slowly closed his eyes, dropping his hands and shaking his head. "I suppose I can give you more time. We hardly know each other after all. Although, that may be the problem…"

"It's likely." Hinata replied, her voice getting Gaara's eyes to open to look her. Seeing that she had his full attention, she pushed forward. "I don't trust you. You…you're from another village, the first time I saw you, you were crushing a ninja from Amegakure no Sato and treating his death like it was only an inconvenience…like you were just walking in the rain.

"And you know…" Hinata said, forcibly keeping her hands at her side so as to not show any weakness. She couldn't afford to be weak right now, not when Naruto needed her. "I heard some of what happened during the invasion. I was…ill, so I didn't see much, but I know you're dangerous. Naruto-kun is strong…but even he needs someone watching his back."

Taking a moment to process what she'd said, Gaara slowly nodded. "You're right, and it's a good thing that you're doing so. However –"

As he said this, a wave of sand washed over Hinata and encased her. Her eyes widened, darting to his gourd in confusion. She'd kept her eyes on it as they were speaking, and not once had any of the sand left from his gourd. Worse still, the sand was wrapped around her arms and was working it in a way that prevented her from using any of her traditional techniques to remove the sand. He slowly stood, raising her into the air with his sand, using a halfhearted sand coffin that he knew she'd recognize. Eyes wide, she felt her heart leap into her throat as she began hyperventilating slightly.

"Who's going to watch your back?" Gaara asked, his even tone holding an invisible threat in the air. They both knew what he could do, and that if he was given the chance he could do it. In an instant, the sand suddenly raced back to his gourd and let Hinata fall the short distance back to the floor. Sighing softly, he put the cork on his gourd and pinched the bridge of his nose. "…I'm sorry."

"Wh…what?" Hinata said softly, barely having caught herself from the fall, and was standing on shaky legs.

Gaara sighed, sitting back down and leaned back. This time, he let himself fully disconnect from his gourd . Motioning to the seat across from himself, hoping that she'd sit down. With her shaking legs, she didn't have much of a choice in the matter. Staring at her, he explained. "Space travel and being in an enclosed space like this isn't good for me. I…have insomnia, and practicing my techniques to improve what I have when I'm in an area that has little for me to work with in terms of large scale techniques makes it…strenuous on me." Rubbing his forehead, he sighed again. "I even snapped at Naruto for spilling my drink. In Suna, that would hardly be considered a crime, but it would be highly frowned upon. Being a desert, water holds a high value to us."

Hinata slowly nodded, drinking in the information he was being surprisingly forthright with. As she thought about it though, she realized that if he was being honest, he could've killed them at any point. Yet they were still alive. Taking comfort in that thought, she decided to speak a bit herself. "I'm sorry. I suppose that judging you after you saved us from the Heartless was a bit…heartless of me." Hearing a small snort made her smile a bit at her attempted joke. "Thing is, I'm…worried."

"Worried? About Naruto?"

"No." She admitted, brushing a hair behind her ear as she thought of just what to say. "You see, I've been thinking over everything, and my fighting style. And I've come to the conclusion after our last fight with the Heartless that –"

"Land! Solid land!"

Both of them froze and snapped their heads towards the cockpit where they'd heard Naruto's voice shouting from. Both standing, Gaara raised a hand to get Hinata to pause. "We'll finish this later."

After a second of hesitance, she nodded and made her way up to see the new world.

* * *

The little town was scared out of their minds, quickly locking themselves in their homes. To an outside perspective they looked like a town about to have something terrifying stampede through it, tearing apart everything. None dared so much as peak through the windows, or give so much as a second glance till they were sure that everything had died down.

"…what a ghost town." Naruto muttered, scratching his head. "I thought Kamina said he was setting us down near a civilized city."

"He also said he knew how to land." Gaara muttered, still unhappy with the man. Gaara had decided that he'd take Yuuko's advice for the first world, just to see if what she said actually made a difference. If it didn't, then he'd likely just grab his gourd and take it with him; he did admit that he didn't like how defenseless he felt without the weight on his back.

"Well, he _did_ get us to land." Hinata said softly, inwardly giggling at the idea of Gaara gently toeing the ground after they'd gotten down. It was almost his own way of kissing the ground and shouting for joy.

"He crashed us in the middle of a lake." Gaara replied, looking more and more himself as they went through. The ground beneath them was essentially sand, which made him feel rather at home. Granted, there were some strange plant life around them, but that could was excusable seeing how the ninja of Kaze no Kuni (Land of Wind) likely pulled out as much of the foliage around Sunagakure no Sato (Village Hidden in the Sand) to create more sandstorms to protect their village with.

Naruto rolled his eyes slightly at that, having been in the cockpit when they'd touched down. He'd been hooting and hollering the whole way, with Kamina shouting at the top of his lungs. The other two had strapped in, with Gaara strapping himself in further with his sand, and had not enjoyed it nearly as much. In Naruto's mind, that just made his landing even more awesome.

Still, the apparently abandoned village was troubling, and they all inwardly hoped it wasn't them who had caused them flee to their homes.

"Hey kids! Get out of the streets already!" A kind old man said, finally peaking his head out from his house upon realizing that someone hadn't grabbed their kids after hearing the warning.

"Uh…why?" Naruto asked intelligently.

"Didn't you hear? They're coming!"

Hinata blinked at that. "Who?"

The man opened his mouth to speak, but seeing someone coming behind them, he froze and slammed the door. All three of them glanced to one another, and then turned around to see what had frightened him so. The sight was rather underwhelming.

Two men were holding up a man wearing a turban, shouting something about their food tasting bad. They were a bit different, with one being pale skinned and the other dark, and one being thin and short while the other was tall and stout respectively. Despite these minor differences, everything else was practically mirrored in the other. The two men were wearing pilot helmet and goggles, with black uniforms and large bags tied to their waists. The truly strange part though, was that there was a pink rabbit patch on the left side of their uniform and long rabbit ears on their helmets. Despite their attempts to intimidate, all the three could see were those ears which appeared quite ridiculous to them.

"Didn't you hear me? I said get me something that doesn't taste bad already!" The first man said, shoving the man away with a snort. Seeing the kids looking at him, his lip curled up slightly in what could only be considered condescending. "Scram kids. You don't want any trouble."

"Really?" Naruto asked, glancing to Gaara and Hinata.

"Um…well…" Hinata said slowly. Glancing between them, she found herself tapping her fingers together slowly, her old nervous tick returning with the strange situation. "Wouldn't that be meddling?"

Naruto thought about it for a second. "Is doing what I think is right considered meddling?"

"If it affects others, yes." Gaara replied. He already could guess what Naruto was going to say, and began channeling chakra into the sands beneath his feet to prepare himself for what was inevitably going to be a fight. Naruto was simply to flashy to do things the 'normal way', which meant it was more a matter of 'when' he was going to step in.

"Then I don't care if it's meddling." Naruto said with finality, crossing his arms and nodding to himself. "If someone is doing something wrong, and I can stop it, I won't just stand idly by." Stepping forward, Naruto pointed at the duo. "Hey you!"

"…_genius Naruto."_ Gaara thought sarcastically. Straight to the point, and no nonsense; just the way Naruto was.

"Eh?" Was the dual response of the men who dropped the poor man they'd been tormenting just a second before. Despite their surprise, when the realized who it was who was shouting at them they began laughing. "Oh man, that's a good one."

"What's so funny?" Naruto shouted, glaring at them as he slowly walked towards them.

"You actually think you're going to take us on?" The larger dark skinned man asked, lifting a strange thing in his hand. It was completely straight, with a handle that was perpendicular near the middle, and had a wider base which he was pressing into his shoulder. Gaara and Hinata recognized that the way he held the weapon was likely some kind of a weapon, but Naruto was oblivious.

"Yeah, I do." Naruto said confidently.

"Well then." The short man said, turning to his companion. "Fire a warning shot."

The man snapped the weapon up, quickly aiming at Naruto. Before Naruto could even mutter a 'what' he'd pulled a lever on the handle and there was a loud series of small explosions that emanated from the open end pointed at Naruto. Naruto stepped back, eyes wide as the entire experience took less than a second. Then, Naruto began to scream in pain.

"Whoops. I guess I was a bit closer than I thought." The man said, clearly not caring about what he'd done. The reaction a second after the first scream was not what he expected though.

"You son of a – that hurt damn it!" Naruto shouted, his hand gently tapping his ear with a wince before removing it with drops of blood on his hand. With each heartbeat he could feel small bits dropping onto his tracksuit, causing Naruto to grip his hand into a fist and scowl. "Gah!"

Hinata didn't seem to have caught up fully during the first scream of pain, though his yelling at the man did break her out of it. Snapping her head to the man, she felt her eyes twitch at how quickly the weapon had struck out. It was unorthodox in her eyes, but lethal all the same. The hesitation could have cost her and her team everything; like it had so many times before on previous missions.

Gaara however didn't hesitate. The moment that the barrel had lifted to aim at Naruto Gaara had increased his chakra to maximum output with some of the Ichibi's through his feet. Because of the difficulty of this, Naruto was struck before he could finish gathering the chakra at his feet. Naruto had barely finished speaking when Gaara's raised his arms and clenched them into fists. Reacting to his command, the sand exploded around the duo and encased them in coffins of sand. Only a lot of focus, and high concentration kept him from killing the two outright for what had just happened.

He immediately decided that when this was over, he was at the very least putting a sealing array on the back of his shirt to summon his gourd so that he would be able to use chakra that was laden with his chakra already.

"What the hell?" The short man said, unable to move despite his squirming around.

"I – I can't move!" The second man said, in an equally distraught position. Unlike his friend, he could feel a great deal of pressure on his right arm, particularly around his finger.

"I swear I'm gonna…uh, Gaara?" Naruto said, trailing off as he saw the sand that'd enveloped them. Slowly turning to face his friend, he slowly pointed to the men. "Did you…?"

"…I reacted on instinct." Gaara said simply, glad for his armor preventing his embarrassment from being evident. "I sensed some of their dark intent, and was preparing…this. Unfortunately, their weapons were far faster than I expected."

Naruto nodded, flinching as he gently patted his ear again. There was a semicircle hole in his left ear, from where whatever kind of projectile they'd used on him had speedily gone past him and took a chunk of his ear with it. He had no idea what it was, but he was already certain he didn't like it, and never wanted to deal with it again. "Thanks Gaara. We don't need them doing that again."

"Hey, what did you brats do to us?!" The short man shouted, struggling in his coffin in vain.

"Oh shut up! I don't want to hear that from you!" Naruto shouted back, clearly having had enough of the man talking down to them.

"Naruto-kun, please hold still." Hinata said, gently gripping his shoulder and looking over his ear. It was a clean wound, which meant that if they'd missed it was a really lucky shot. If they'd aimed, it was a very, very good shot indeed. Unfortunately they didn't bring to many healing items, which meant that using too much too might end up working against their favor.

"You wait till our boss gets here, then you'll see!" The larger man shouted, looking to pull his arm free to shoot his weapon again. A moment later his yelp signified Gaara squeezing the sand tighter to hold him still.

"Wow, how did you do that?"

All five of them blinked, turning to the new voice. Standing not too far away, two people were standing and watching the fight with a curious look in their eyes. The first was a young boy with a mess of spikey black hair. Wearing a blue gi, and white pants, with a monkey's tail swinging behind him. The other was a woman, wearing what appeared to be a white one piece pair of pants that rose all the way over her chest and a blue vest, with her blue hair tied in a high ponytail. While the boy was looking expectantly at Gaara, the girl was looking to the men in confusion, and then back again.

The young boy ran up to them, grinning widely as he all but bounced in place. "Seriously, what kind of a technique _was_ that? I've never seen a technique that allows you to throw sand at people. Are you some kind of sandbox man?"

"Um, no?" Gaara said after finally catching up with what the boy was saying.

"Oh, well that's cool." Grinning, the boy held out a hand to Gaara. "My name is Son Goku, nice to meet ya!"

"…Sabaku no Gaara."

"I'm Hyuuga Hinata." Hinata said, feeling it would be rude to not introduce herself after he'd introduced himself. Seeing Naruto was still cursing out the two men in the sand, she sighed. "And that's Naruto."

"My name's Bulma. Nice to meet you all." The blue haired lady, Bluma, said.

"What kind of weapon even _is_ that?!" Naruto continued shouting, pointing to the larger man.

"Wha – have you never seen a gun before?" The man shouted, looking both confused and indignant.

"Really?" Bulma asked, slowly walking over to Naruto. Seeing his injury, she flinched back before kneeling next to him. "Oh my gosh, what…are you okay?"

Naruto turned to her, blinking in a surprisingly calm manner for one who'd just been injured and shot at. "Eh, it smarts, but I'm okay."

Bulma blinked at that, looking between the three with a look of wonder as she took in what she'd just seen. "So…I'm guessing you guys aren't with this 'Rabbit Mob' we've been hearing about." She smiled, pointing to her head. "No ears."

Naruto thumbed towards the two men in sand, raising an eyebrow. "You really think we'd have anything to do with guys like these?"

"It wouldn't surprise me at this point." Bulma muttered. "The people here thought I was one because I was wearing bunny ears…don't ask."

"Wasn't planning on it." Gaara replied quickly, not wanting to hear the story. For whatever reason, he felt it was going to be rather silly. He didn't have time for silly things, as he was still focusing on the two members of the Rabbit Mob. And by focus, that meant he was keeping from crushing them in his sand. He'd done enough of that to last a lifetime when he'd listened to the Ichibi; he was changing his ways, and need any more blood on his hands today.

Goku walked over to the men, humming as he slowly walked around them and inspected the sand carefully. "Hm, you know, I can't tell what kind of technique can do this. Is it some kind of ki attack?"

"Ki?" Hinata asked, blinking as she processed that.

Gaara though, was almost relieved to hear that question. "Yes."

"Oh wow, I guess I really do have a lot to learn about ki then." Goku said, scratching his head as he puzzled it over.

"Really?" Bulma asked curiously. "But, didn't you learn Master Roshi's Kamehameha technique just from watching it once?"

"Yeah, but that was just ki." Goku replied, rubbing his cheek abashedly. "This is ki mixed with the sand and…um…" Putting his hand on the sand, he tilted his head curiously and glancing to Gaara. "I think this uses negative ki with positive to use."

Gaara's eyes widened slightly, but his face remained indifferent. _"Did he just…but how? Is that an ability of this world?"_

Not understanding too much about what ki was yet, Bulma glanced between Goku and Gaara. "Well, if you say so. Not quite sure that that really means, but I'll take your word for it. You know better than me about that kinda stuff." Turning to Hinata and the group, she had another thought. "You guys don't know much about the world, do you?"

All three of them flinched slightly at that, their thoughts turning to how they could fix this. That is, until Naruto decided to just fly by the seat of his pants. "Is it that obvious?"

While the other two snapped their heads to Naruto with wide eyes, Bulma just nodded. "Yeah, it kinda was. That must mean you're like Goku, raised in the wild or something. Don't worry, I won't judge ya for that, but you gotta be careful. If you jump headfirst into everything like he does, you'll end up getting hurt." Glancing at Naruto, she pulled back slightly and pointed to Naruto. "Well, I guess I'm a bit late to explain that part."

As they chatted, the two men slowly glanced at one another helplessly. "Why are they ignoring us?"

"Maybe they don't know who we really are?" The big man said, glancing to them. "The little runts didn't even seem to recognize what a gun was when I pointed it right at them. But…the red guy."

"Yeah, I saw. He looked like he was gonna kill us when we shot his friend." He shivered, glancing down with a nervous look. "He…might just do that still."

"Did you call the boss?" The big man asked, not liking the situation one bit.

"Of course I did, now keep quiet, or they'll hear you." The short man hissed, glaring at him.

The big man looked confused. "But we already told 'em the boss was coming."

"Yes, but the longer we stall, the easier it'll be for –"

"You guys have a boss?" Goku asked, still standing at their feet after he'd been checking out Gaara's technique. Both men paled, realizing they'd been overheard, but Goku just grinned. "I wonder what he looks like."

"Goku! Get over here, we're leaving!" Bulma shouted, trying to get his attention.

"But Bulma, I want to see what everyone was so scared of!" Goku said back.

Bulma rolled her eyes at that, "I still have a hard time remembering you're just a little kid after you do stuff like blow up my car, but then again…I'm not gonna be scared by grown men wearing rabbit ears either." She said, hands on her hips as she considered their position.

"I kinda wanna meet this guy too." Naruto said idly, punching his hand with a growl. "He owes me for his stupid lackey's hitting my ear with that…uh, what was it called again?"

"A gun." Hinata supplied helpfully, a bit more attentive to what Bulma had been saying. Then again, she also hadn't been shot either.

"I…also want to see what kind of a person this is." Gaara said after a moment, staring at the men with cold eyes. "After what they did, I want to know if their boss is truly someone worth dying for, or if he was truly a nameless nobody who didn't deserve half the time they gave him."

Seeing she was outnumbered, Hinata sighed, and stayed silent. She would watch and wait, hopefully for a good outcome. In the meantime, she shuffled nervously and glanced around. So far, she hadn't seen any Heartless around, so she was a bit worried. Were they on the right world, or had they found one that had yet to be attacked by them yet? Turning to the slowly opening doors, she went to go ask some questions.

The two men gulped at that. Suddenly, their future didn't sound so bright.

* * *

A short while later, a car slowly made its way towards the town. Not too far away, the group of five sat silently, watching for the oncoming car with varying levels of interest. Of them all, only two were showing more extreme emotions; Goku looking eager and excited, while Naruto was tapping his foot impatiently and frowning. As the car pulled into the town, they all quickly approached it save for Gaara, who moved at a far more sedated pace to 'drag' the sand subtly beneath his feet towards the car.

The car putted to a stop as it slowly set itself down in front of them. Luckily, Bulma had told them about how their vehicles could do things like that, otherwise Naruto would've lost track of his anger to be amazed that it had been floating just a moment before. However, since none of them knew what the boss of the Rabbit Mob looked like, they were all a bit surprised by the appearance of their leader.

The man was a rabbit, an honest to goodness anthropomorphic rabbit man. He was wearing a pair of sunglasses, having a pink high collar green vest with long purple sleeves. He was just barely taller than the younger kids, and was shorter than Bulma. For being someone who was supposed to be the 'boss' he was rather underwhelming.

"Well, that was quite the ride." The rabbit said, stretching after a moment with a groan as he allowed himself to relax from being in the car for so long. Seeing he had company, he paused, suddenly becoming very pleasant as he held out his hand towards Bulma. "Well hello there, it's nice to meet 'cha."

"Um, what?" Bulma asked, staring at his hand as though it was going to suddenly jump out at her and bite her.

"Yeah, not gonna lie, this is underwhelming." Naruto said, a bandage over his ear that he was having a difficult time not tugging on. "I was expecting something more evil looking from what the villagers were talking about. Not a friendly bunny."

"Yeah no." Bulma said, slapping the rabbit's hand away with a scowl. As she turned away, she heard the rabbit suddenly laughing. "What's so funny?"

"You touched me." He said, clapping his hands together.

Blinking in surprise, Bulma was suddenly enveloped in a plume of smoke. Everyone's eyes widened as the smoke cleared, and a carrot fell in her place. Goku, recovering quickly, blinked as he finally spoke. "What –"

"My name is Monster Rabbit and my touch is what you should fear." Monster Rabbit said, trying to step up to take the carrot only to have it roll away from his grasp. "What?!"

"I don't care who you are." Gaara replied, covering the carrot in sand and drew it into his hand. "But you are going to change her back now, or else you'll understand why your men fear me."

"My men? Huh, come to think of it…" Monster Rabbit asked, looking around in confusion. Seeing his men, he shouted in rage before stomping his feet. "What have you done?! Give them back!"

"Give her back, and we'll see." Gaara replied, motioning his hand towards the men with slowly tightening fingers. The men whimpered as they felt the sand slowly tightening around them.

"Oho?" Monster Rabbit said, slowly pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "I see, so you're competition from a different mob eh? Well unfortunately for you, _I _thought ahead! Come on then."

Grinning, Monster Rabbit leapt forward. For a second, Gaara thought he could stay still. Before he was hit though, he remembered that his gourd was still in the ship. Cursing, he leapt back, the tips of Monster Rabbit's fingers brushing against him as he escaped, though not unscathed.

"Ehehehe! I touched you!" Monster Rabbit said, striking a pose and clapping to activate his technique. After a moment of nothing, he blinked and chuckled nervously. "Um, what's going on? I touched you…I know I did."

"I may not have my gourd, or my Ultimate Defense…" Gaara said, small pieces of sand falling from where Monster Rabbit had touched him as he stared up at him with a scowl. "But I am never defenseless."

"You covered yourself with sand? How much does that weigh?" Goku asked, looking at Gaara with even more respect.

"Heh, well then I'll just hit you harder then." Monster Rabbit said, bounding towards Gaara at high speed. Before he could get to him though, he found himself colliding into Naruto who'd managed to quickly move between them. "Eh?!"

"Oi! Give back Bulma you stupid bunny!" Naruto shouted, pushing back against him and forcing him back.

Grinning at Naruto, Monster Rabbit reached his hands up to clap again, only to find Naruto disappear in a puff of smoke. "…what?"

"Shadow clone." Naruto, still standing where he'd been holding his hands in a cross shape, grinned as he slowly rolled his shoulders. "Now, give her back, now."

"…no." Monster Rabbit said, shaking his head. "No, no, no! This can't be happening?! How do you all have counters to my attack?!" Gasping, he pointed at them from his position on the ground. "You must've been spies! Watching me and plotting how to take me down!"

They all looked at each other for a second before Naruto and Goku started laughing. While Monster Rabbit wasn't happy with it, he could already see that he was outnumbered and outmatched, so he waited for them to explain. Naruto, getting ahold of himself first, explained. "We just met, and you…you think we _planned_ to beat you? Hahaha, oh man, that's a good one."

"Then…then you're will that runt! The one with the black army!"

That got some attention from the world traveling group, though Goku seemed confused as well. "What black army?"

"He came to me…he told me he was going to take over the world, and that his army was preparing." Monster Rabbit said, rambling at this point from fear. "He told me that my skill would make me an amusing jester. Me! A jester. Pheh, I am more than that, I am Monster Rabbit! Boss of the Rabbit Mob and I –"

"Are stalling." Gaara said, pointing to his men who were still in their coffins. Only now, they had been lifted into the air and were beginning to spin around. The grown men were currently sobbing, completely at Gaara's mercy.

"Hey, that's not fair." Goku said, not liking how Gaara was messing with Monster Rabbit by threatening his friends. That wasn't a fair fight.

Gaara slowly turned to Goku, holding the carrot out in front of him. "Do you think he would have fought fair if he'd been given a chance?"

"Well, we didn't give him a chance." Goku replied.

Everyone except for Naruto looked like that was one of the stupidest things to say, seeing how the man had turned Bulma into a carrot basically on a whim. Naruto and Goku were the only ones who would work by those rules, which meant that things were 'even' between the two sides, with neither Goku or Naruto able to form an argument that would convince them to let them have a fair fight.

Ignoring Goku's idea, and Naruto saying something that he could only hope wasn't agreement with the idea, Gaara held the carrot out in front of him, glaring down at him. "You have ten seconds. Then, the first one goes. I don't care which one, so unless you have a preference in your men, I suggest you get to work."

It was a stalemate, something he'd dealt with many times before. People were ruthless, and often something of value or someone of value needed to be threatened before results could be achieved. He expected Monster Rabbit to call his bluff, to force him to show his power before he believed him. Before he could even open his mouth to start counting, Monster Rabbit was already whimpering and apologizing as he rapidly clapped his hands together and returned Bulma to her original form. So surprised, he let the sand around the men fall apart as they fell onto their butts. If they'd had an inclination to go for their weapons for attack at any point before, they were pushing it away from their bodies and rushing over to their boss.

Watching them as they tried to comfort their boss, Gaara suddenly felt very small. He'd been working on changing himself since he'd met Naruto, becoming his own man. He'd cut back on the killing everyone he met to just people he was hired to kill or people who attacked him first. And yet here, without being attacked himself, he'd lashed out and come close to the edge of killing people he'd just met over something…

Glancing to Naruto, he found himself losing most of his regret immediately. He'd done it because for a second he'd thought he'd lost his first friend. Only his shouts of pain had kept him from killing them, and now it had proved to be a boon to them, as well as his conscience. This left only one thing left for him to do.

Slowly walking towards the three, keeping the sand around his feet, he crossed his arms as he stood over them. When they realized he was standing in front of them, they grouped together and shivered as he stared down at them with a flat stare.

"You were talking about someone with a 'black army'. Tell me more."

* * *

Hiding behind a building and shivering slightly, a man with long spikey black hair, wearing a green vest with the kanji for "comfort" on his chest, loose brown pants and boots that came up to his mid-calf. Beside him was a cat-like creature who was hovering near him looking rather concerned. After a moment of getting no response, the little creature poked the man gently. "Yamcha? Yamcha what's wrong?"

"…no Puar, I'm not." Yamcha said after a moment. Glancing back around, his eyes narrowed at the group. "I know a lot of things, you know that. I've figured out how several attacks have worked, and learned about multiple people who have been hidden away. But them? I don't know a thing."

"But that's okay Yamcha." Puar said, trying to calm him down. Puar had seen Yamcha upset before, but there was something different about this.

"No." Yamcha whispered, staring at the sand surrounding Gaara. "That kid, Goku, he knew. He could feel it too, and…" Shivering, he put a hand on his chest as he tried to calm down. "That kid is bad news. His ki…his ki is dark."

"It is?" Puar said, glancing at him with a raised brow. "He doesn't look that bad."

Yamcha clenched his fists, slowly hitting his forehead with his hand. "He looks normal, but you saw him catch those guys with his sand. It was so fast…I haven't seen anyone use ki to control an element like that. I haven't _heard_ of anyone doing that. That's not a skill that just gets overlooked Puar."

Puar suddenly understood what Yamcha was saying. "You think he's good enough to stay hidden?"

"Possible." Yamcha said, crossing his arms as his mind raced over what he knew. "I don't know. What I do know is…he's dangerous."

"…dangerous to us, dangerous to Goku, or dangerous to Bulma?" Puar asked, thinking over any other reason he might be worried.

Yamcha blushed, looking away. "Well, um, all – all of the above?" Yamcha finally said, feeling slightly ashamed of how weak he was around women. "I'd feel a lot better about it if I could keep a closer eye on her, but with my crippling weakness, all I can do is watch from the sidelines and hope that if anything happens I'll be able to jump in."

Puar sighed, eyes rolling at Yamcha's less than secret desire to be close to Bulma, but knowing that his current crippling fear of women would keep him at a distance made it difficult to watch. "Don't worry Yamcha, we'll figure something out."

"Yeah…but there's something else." Yamcha said softly, glancing back to Monster Rabbit who was throwing his arms into the air as he described something to Gaara. "I've heard of this black army before. I dismissed it as nothing but a baseless rumor but Gaara seems to think that it's something of interest. And if he's going after it, that means Bulma's gonna follow after him."

"Uh…why?" Puar asked, not seeing how Yamcha had connected those seemingly random dots.

"Because they saved her." He muttered, crouching down and pouted. "We could've been the heroes here, but because Gaara and that other kid had ways to beat Monster Rabbit, they're the ones who'll get the credit. And with the credit, they're going to have them travel with them so that they can have more protection."

"Ohhh." Puar said, realizing that the 'random' dots did connect surprisingly.

"Holy crap it's a pig driving a car!"

Both of them blinked, glancing around the house as they took sight of the blond kid, Naruto, shouting in confusion and shock of seeing Oolong pulling up with the car. Clearly the kid wasn't as smart as the others, and was still struggling to take in some of the things around him. Thinking of something, Yamcha hummed as he rubbed his chin in thought.

Puar blinked, grinning while glancing back to Yamcha. "Did you think of something good?"

"I think…" Yamcha said slowly. "We need to find a way to talk to that Naruto kid."

* * *

In a distant castle, a short man slowly walked through the halls as he let his hand brush against the stone. Grinning in the darkness, he walked around the corner and stared up at one of the mechanized robots that hung silently as they awaited command by their masters. Thinking of their 'masters', his grin turned to a scowl as he turned, cloak billowing in doing so. He knew he looked more epic doing things like that, even though he likely would end up being the butt end of a couple jokes in the future.

His minions were imbeciles, plain and simple. Of everyone he knew, he knew that torturing them kept them in line and let him have control he wouldn't have on others. However, after that..._snake_ had shown up, he'd suddenly been more powerful. Not just he had more power, _he_ was more powerful. Slowly opening and closing his fist, he waved his hand as he walked, the casting of his shadow causing several pools of shadows that rose up and lumbered after him. Even these were imbeciles, but these were imbeciles in large numbers and completely under his control.

"Emperor."

He paused, the group of shadows he'd created sinking back into the ground as he turned to his female human minion, Mai. Staring up at Mai, he tapped his foot impatiently. "Yes Mai, what is it?"

"I…" She paused, looking down at their feet and the shadows in between with a small gulp of worry. "I finished sending out the final requests to join your army. They…have all been turned down so far."

"Oh?" He sounded rather amused by this, rather than put off.

Not getting the reaction she was expecting, she shuffled nervously. "S-sir? Is…isn't that a bad thing?"

"Are you stupid or something?" He asked indignantly, stomping his foot and getting her to step back reflexively. "Those were so I could have something to hold over their heads after I take over the world. They mocked me by turning me down, but with my new allies, it will be _me_ who has the last laugh."

"…of course." Mai said, bowing slowly. This wasn't the same emperor who had tortured her and Shu on multiple occasions for their failures to bring in the Dragon Balls, and the various other plots that had come about and failed because they'd been outmatched. He'd still had enough for them to recognize that hint of their emperor who would wind them up and set them loose on the world.

Now though, he had a new toy to play with, and he had found it to be a symphony of darkness and mischief. He almost made her afraid of what was possible for him to do now. At first it had been small, but with each group he'd sent out, they'd come back twice as large, and there were no survivors. He didn't even need the wish from the Dragon Balls at this rate.

"Mai."

"Yes Emperor Pilaf!" Mai nearly shouted, snapping out of her thoughts as he addressed her.

"Take Shu and a bot, and get me the Dragon Balls." Pilaf said slowly, his eyes staring into hers as he made sure she understood the undertone of threatening he was trying to lay down.

"Yes sir." Mai said, bowing low before turning to leave.

Grinning darkly, Emperor Pilaf began to chuckle. Soon it became an echoing laugh, as he envisioned himself ruling the world, with the world covered in darkness created by his own hand.

* * *

AN: How many people remember Emperor Pilaf? Anyone? Anyone at all? Seriously, that guy was really funny, and was one of the first arc 'final bosses' for Dragon Ball.

Piccolo? Which one. The correct answer is "wait to use him because who the hell would you use in the sequel?" Piccolo Jr. doesn't have the Heartless air to him, which means if I did a sequel, Dragon Ball would end up being pointless and they wouldn't go back. This way, I keep my options open, and I give you a partly-funny bad guy to see Naruto and the group go up against.

Who liked the space ship? Cowboy Beebop was a cool anime, and I almost felt bad since I couldn't think of any reason to involve it in this. Luckily, they have a very cool spaceship that I felt would be neat to have Naruto and his crew travel in. Hurrah for awesome ships!

This chapter was also meant to establish a few other things, as follows:

1. They're all still training, they're just having a lot of issues due to the fact that they're on a ship…in space. I don't think that you can train sand on a metal ship using _wide scale_ attacks.

2. Ki isn't chakra, so there's that. However, it's classified as "good" or "bad" with its type being determined by the person using it. However, it has a "spiritual" aspect to it so I figured that someone who used Ki would be able to at the very least sense the energy of the chakra.

3. Hinata isn't 'shy' so much as she is nervous. And if you remember, she has _every _reason to be nervous, _especially_ with the new world travelling.

4. She also doesn't trust Gaara. Gaara was a monster, and she hadn't forgotten that. Naruto may trust him, but she doesn't. She also has enough of a backbone to hold herself up to stand up for herself to him (when Naruto's involved) but…well…Gaara is _still_ the superior fighter.

5. Speaking of superior fighter, it's the reason Gaara decided to go without his gourd. Was it a bad choice? Yes. But Yuuko was "convincing" in the sense that Gaara felt that he needed to leave his gourd behind to try and fit in. Clearly he won't do that very well, but he's trying

This actually means that you all can decide on what he'll do; go back to the gourd and use Henge to hide his gourd otherwise, wear his gourd and just deal with the odd stares, or learn how to use his jutsu without his gourd and how to create sand – again without his gourd. Place your vote, and we'll see what he does; how he does it won't affect anything in the future, but it will be something interesting to see what you all want to see him use.

And yeah, that's a thing.

Next time, Naruto and the group will discover more about the world of Dragon Ball and of the hatred of guns. Till then, Guru out.


	4. A Few New Things

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any other anime that I'm using.

* * *

**Naruto: Anime's Apart**

_A Few New Things_

Naruto stared down at the vehicle that they were traveling on, hanging onto the back with his chakra as they sped across the landscape. While Bulma and the pig-man, Oolong, had been a bit unsure about taking on three more companions, Goku had vouched for them. Saying they were fun and very strong made Naruto happy, even though he had done only a little bit during their fight. He was absolutely going to do better in their next fight and prove himself as a true fighter.

That being said, he was staying as close he could to the group so that he could keep in touch with the conversations. Glancing between everyone in the back seat, he inwardly wondered why they'd chosen to sit where they were. Gaara was sitting on the far side, behind Oolong with a blank face, though his head turned to check out their surroundings. Hinata had been roped into sitting in the middle, somewhat due to her being dragged into the seat by Bulma, and half by her insisting to sit there. Bulma sat on the other side of Hinata, practically gushing over the young girl as she talked to her about various girl things; apparently she'd been spending too much time around Goku and Oolong, and had been missing out on having girl talk, or something like that.

He'd opted to sit on the car seeing how they'd needed someone to sit on the outside so that they'd have room. Seeing how no one else in this world that they'd met seemed to have been trained to stick to walls like they had, it had to be one of them. Not that Naruto minded, he just wished he knew how he'd agreed to it so easily.

Oh right, Bulma had gushed over him and he'd forgotten what thinking was for a bit.

Putting his hands behind his head, he blinked as he took in their surroundings. They were going through a mushroom forest; one that had mushrooms the size of trees, almost two-thirds the size of the trees in the Forest of Death. That had thrown him for a loop, and he was trying to keep from leaning back to far as he tried to see everything. Flailing his arms when they hit a bump, he gripped the back of the car and yelped. "Holy crap! Are you trying to kill me Oolong?"

"No." Oolong muttered, eying the road as he saw a couple other bumps on the road. "If I were trying to throw you off, I'd have already done it."

"Oolong, be nice." Bulma sternly reprimanded Oolong, making sure he knew that she meant business.

"Fine, fine, but if he keeps being annoying I'm not promising anything." He said, rolling his eyes at Bulma.

Naruto glanced between them, scratching his cheek as he watched the two interact. For someone who was helping them travel, he sounded like he and Bulma didn't get along. It didn't help that he seemed to be purposefully hitting small bumps every so often to try and throw him off when he thought he wasn't paying attention. So far, he'd been very unsuccessful; Naruto nine, Oolong none.

"Hey, it's getting dark out." Goku noted, watching as the sun began hiding behind the mountains in front of them. Turning back to Bulma, he eagerly grinned as he spoke. "We're gonna set up camp now right?"

"Right." Bulma said, rummaging through her supplies for something. Glancing around, she leaned forward and pointed to a small area off to the side of the road. "Pull over there."

"Yeah, yeah." Oolong muttered, following her orders and parked the car close to where she'd pointed.

Everyone quickly got out, with the ninja getting out and looking around confused. They knew more than a bit about survival tactics and how one uses their terrain, but this was an absolute worst case scenario in many ways. It was completely open to view, the mushrooms provided cover but only a scarce amount, and it was right next to a major pathway that could more than easily be ambushed seeing how anyone could simply pass by and they wouldn't be able to tell if their intentions were bad or if they were simply traveling down the path. It was open so sneak attacks wouldn't work nearly as well, but it was still a worrying situation.

As the three surveyed the area, Bulma pulled out a small capsule and pushed a button with a small click. The noise drew their attention, which meant when she tossed it they were all on edge. Whatever they were expecting, it was not for a small wagon-home to suddenly appear in a burst of smoke. When she pushed a button on the car and it turned into a capsule, they stared at Bulma silently.

Bulma, remembering how they'd first reacted to the car and remembering how they were somewhat like Goku had first been, quickly explained. "These are called capsules. My father helped make them in his business, the Capsule Corporation. They contain objects, and allow people to carry stuff around. Come on, I'll show you around."

They slowly followed her in, Naruto the most openly gawking at the fact that they were standing in a small two story home that had come into existence from a pill sized object. Gaara was less impressed, having made similar structures while on missions for himself, but that had been for himself. He'd never made one for multiple people, or with the accommodations. There were _books_ of all things, perfectly intact and without a page out of place. That was impressive.

Hinata's eyes roamed the plain building slowly, amazed by how such a building had been summoned through Bulma's capsule. As she observed the building, she noted that there were a few touches here and there that told her that this wasn't Bulma's residence. Bulma had shown herself to be a strong woman, and a building like this was a bit too lavish for what she expected Bulma to take with her.

Naruto, "Whoa…this is awesome! How'd you do that? Is it some kind of jutsu? Can you teach me?!" Was busy bouncing around and trying to take in everything he could all at once short of spinning around on his heels as he looked all around the room.

Bulma wasn't sure what to make of Naruto. As she watched him speeding around the room, she was reminded of when she'd first met Goku, only Naruto was blond and there was something…different about him. He was a bit airheaded most of the time, and seemed a bit too crass, but then she remembered him at the town. All of that had been there still, but when the fight had begun it all fell away; like Naruto had stepped out of some kind of restraint and became something more focused and dangerous. Even Goku wasn't like that. Sure, he could go from goofy to serious but she never felt an air of 'danger' whenever he was serious. It was a bit unnerving.

"Bulma-san."

She flinched slightly, turning to Gaara with a light chuckle. "Yeah Gaara?"

Gaara motioned to a small table as he moved over to sit down. "I need you to tell me more about what you know of this…'black army'. You seemed familiar with the name of the one Monster Rabbit named as their leader."

Bulma nodded, slowly sitting down across from him, Hinata sitting down next to her. "Uh, okay. What do you want to know?"

Naruto and Goku looked at each other, shrugging to each other sat down and listened idly. Neither knew what was all that important for them to talk about at the moment, but both didn't want to miss out on anything either. It would be annoying if they missed anything cool or important because they'd not been around. Plus, it wasn't like they'd been asked to leave either.

"Start with what he's after. If we know that, we may be able to get him to come to us." Gaara stated simply.

The concept was simple enough; get whatever he wanted, then get him to come to them where they could set up the terrain to their advantage. It was often not the easiest thing to do, seeing how they could be going and chasing after whatever they were and attempting to get to it first. That meant that they'd be going for something more akin to a neutral ground, which –though not ideal– was something they could most definitely work with.

"Oh, that's an easy one. He's looking for the Dragon Balls." Bulma said, stating it as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

The three ninja listening were less impressed and more lost though. "What's a Dragon Ball? And why the heck would he want it?" Naruto asked, the obvious questions being easily asked by him. Unfortunately the outlandish theories came following just as fast. "Ooh! I bet they have some kind of super awesome power to them, like they can make him super powerful. Or maybe make him able to beat up enemies with one hit."

Before either of his teammates could make any kind of noise of disapproval, Bulma cut in. "Actually, those are all possible as far as I can tell."

"…eh?" Naruto asked, eyes suddenly wide as his mind raced. So many possibilities, and so little logic behind them. "So if he wanted, he could just…wish to be the strongest man alive?"

"Yep."

"What about the ability to fly?"

"He could do that."

"Be taller?"

"Plausible."

"Bring back the dead?" Gaara asked, his mind going elsewhere as he thought over how absurd that kind of power sounded. Surely something as outlandish as bringing back the dead was out of these 'Dragon Balls' hands…or whatever they had.

"Hm, I've heard there's some rules about that, but I don't see why not." Bulma said, shooting down Gaara's theory.

"Whoa, wait what?" Naruto shouted, glancing between them all. "What kind of ridiculous power is that? I mean seriously? That's just…how?"

Gaara held up a hand, getting Bulma's attention back to him. "We can discuss things of that nature later. Our current situation doesn't require us to know all the details of what they can do, it's to know where these Dragon Balls are, and how many we'll need to look for to draw him out."

Bulma blinked, having not expected a response like that in the slightest. "Well, you don't have to go too far. We already have six of the seven that are out there." All three of them perked up at that, surprised to hear that their job already had a good portion had been done already. Seeing them all do so, Bulma held up a finger semi-scoldingly. "Hold on now, don't think we're going to just hand them over. We fought long and hard to get these Dragon Balls."

"You mean Goku fought for them." Oolong said from the other side of the room.

"Don't start Oolong." Bulma shouted back to him, frowning at having been called out.

"Please, can we try to get through this without fighting?" Hinata asked, hoping to prevent them from getting too involved in their bickering.

"Fine." Bulma said, crossing her arms as she turned back to Gaara. "Like I said though, we're not just handing them over."

Gaara nodded slowly, inwardly debating over what he should think of the situation. While on the one hand, the Dragon Balls were theirs as they were from their world, the shear potential sounded like it was too good to be true. There had to be a price for having a near limitless wish…and yet he couldn't help but wonder if they would allow them the wish. To be able to wish back their home and be done with all the traveling right away, getting back to their normal lives. But then that question returned to his mind; what would be the price? He didn't know, and as such he at least wanted to watch for a little longer to see what all would happen.

"…fair enough." Gaara finally said, not letting on that if they needed they would take them by force if needed. He wasn't a fool, and wouldn't give it up if given the option, but he wouldn't take it if it wasn't worth it. "However, you said that there were seven. Where is the seventh?"

"We were on our way to find it." Bulma pulled out a circular device and showed it to them, clicking a button on the side. The screen lit up, and a small group of lights blinking gently on it. A ways away from the first, another light was glowing. Eyeing it quickly, they noticed that there were six lights near them; the ones that the three of their new acquaintances had collected.

Gaara tapped his chin, staring at the device with a calculating look. Holding out his hand, he was surprised when Bulma willingly placed the device in his hand. Apparently people in this world were quite a bit more trusting than the in their ninja world. Examining it carefully, he slowly sat back and examined the small switches on the sides. Pushing the button, he blinked as he watched the device shut off. "Hm. Is there any way to check the terrain where this Dragon Ball will be?"

"Huh? After all that and what you're worried about is what's around it?" Bulma asked. She was rather confused by his thinking, but then she didn't know him yet either. Seeing him waiting for her, she chuckled nervously. "Uh, no it can't. Sorry about that."

"…I see." Gaara muttered, placing the device in between them with a small frown.

For him, terrain was a big part of how his strategies worked. Water was a big weakness that he was working to conquer, but it was rarely something that he had to face since he worked around it. He didn't like areas where he had to make more sand rather than just using the sand he had, but with his gourd in the ship, he needed a bit more time to 'build' another one so that he could function effectively. All the more, he was beginning to regret trusting Yuuko's advice.

Bulma looked worried that she said the wrong thing, nervously glancing between Hinata and Naruto. Both shrugged, neither sure what to say or do to help her with Gaara. Trying to work with what she had, she decided it was time to 'break'. "Well then, why don't we all get some shut eye. I'm sure we're all tired from all that excitement today."

Seeing Hinata nod, she felt a bit of relief that she had someone else agreeing with her. Unfortunately, she didn't know about Gaara's insomnia. "Go ahead. I have some things I need to work on anyway."

"Alright Gaara-san, we'll head out for now." Hinata said, pausing for a second and glancing to Naruto and Goku. "Um, are you two coming?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, sure." Naruto said, scratching his cheek before yawning. He was certainly tired, and was ready to go to sleep as well. Stretching out, he glanced around. "Uh, where are the beds at?"

"Just follow Goku. He'll show you where you and Gaara will be sleeping tonight." Bulma stood up, sighing as she looked over her new clothes. "Man, I should've gotten more of these. Oh well, I guess I can work with what I've got."

Watching her walk off, Naruto and Hinata glanced to Gaara. "So, what's the plan?"

"…I'm working on it." Gaara said, channeling some chakra into his sand as he shaped it in front of him as he worked with the sand on him. He was going to need to use the sand from around the building to gather more sand together just in case; wasting chakra trying to control sand he didn't have a previous 'investment' in wasn't ideal.

Goku blinked, looking between them all curiously. "Plan? What plan?"

"Don't worry Goku-san, we're just taking precautions." Hinata said, glancing away as she was thinking of a few things herself. As a member of a recon team, she knew a few things about gathering information on terrain and on enemy 'forces' – though a couple bandit camps hardly qualified as a force.

"Oh. Okay then." Goku said, grinning widely. Turning to Naruto, he motioned for him to follow. Naruto glanced to the two of them and shrugged, following him up into the room.

As the two of them watched the last person in the room walk away, Gaara turned to Hinata slowly. Knowing that Gaara had far from forgotten what she'd been saying before, she took a deep breath. "I'm guessing you want me to continue where we left off earlier, right Gaara-san?"

"You sounded worried." Gaara stated simply.

"…I am." Hinata said, clenching her hand over her chest. "My fighting style, it won't do me any good against the Heartless."

_That_ had Gaara's attention. "Alright then. Start from the beginning."

* * *

"_I've been having these weird thoughts lately…"_

As soon as he arrived on the beach he felt himself physically flinch. This one had confused him at first, but after recognizing what was happening he'd begun wishing that he could look away. It was always the same though, and so he watched.

He could hear their voiced, though he never turned their way. His eyes were focused on only the boy in the boat in the tall hat. He could see the grin on his face, staring out at the open waters before him as hoisted his black flag. Moving about merrily, he seemed eager to ship out and get to whatever his young mind had planned.

Once more, his head never turned to see what it was when he heard the small boom and whistling noise that approached. The boy looked startled, clearly knowing what was coming as he scrambled around his boat. It was too little too late, as the boat beneath him was annihilated and the boy disappeared from view.

"_Like, is any of this real, or not?"_

Standing in a room filled with books that seemed to reach for the ceiling, his fingers brushed the spines as he walked around the room. This one was always painful, even though he knew it was also far from the worst to watch. Still, his head began turning, wincing as his eyes fell on the pair in the corner.

They were young, one looking to be around Konohamaru's age, while the other was slightly younger. From how closely they resembled one another, he could only guess that they were brothers. Despite the fire in their eyes as light began to glow around them, he knew what was coming. He could feel it as much as he knew from having seen this before.

Within seconds, everything went from good to horrific. Darkness began rising and arching around them as though it was reaching towards them. After a few seconds, the shadows had their hands on them, and before his eyes he was unable to stop from watching as the boy disappeared from before their eyes.

"_If it's real, I know I can change things…"_

He stood in the forest, staring up at the full moon with a look of confusion. There was a commotion somewhere, like something was moving swiftly. Then, the air itself shook as a roar of titanic creature reverberated and shook the area around him. Creatures that had once been sleeping bolted up and ran, terror evident in the way they ran from whatever behemoth had unleashed the bone rattling roar.

He felt himself floating, as though his being dragged through the sky by an invisible hand. Soon his eyes fell on the form of a man in an indentation in the ground. Upon further inspection, he realized that the indentation was actually a footprint some something large; something very, very large. It took him even longer to realize he was no longer hanging in the air, but standing next to the person and staring down at him as the man's breathe rattled and he went still.

This one wasn't normal; he'd never seen this scene before.

"_But if it's not why would I dream of this?" _

"Naruto? Hey Naruto, wake up."

Grumbling, Naruto's eyes peaked open and looked at who was standing next to him. "…Goku? What time is it?"

"Dunno." He said, his bright grin almost glaring in the shadows. "I couldn't sleep, so I wanted to ask if you'd tell me how Gaara did that sand thing yesterday."

"Mur…" Naruto mumbled, slowly sitting up and rubbing his eyes as he tried to refocus on everything around him. Taking slow breaths in a technique he'd been told would help him wake up since he was a slow riser. Squinting his eyes, he scratched his head as he tried to think of what he'd just been asked. "What?"

"The sand technique." Goku said. Crossing his arms and staring at the ground, he had a look of intense concentration as he spoke. "I've been thinking about how he moved the sand like he did, but no matter how many times I try to do it, I can't get it to work." He then began grinning up at him eagerly, "So I figured that since you're his friend, he might've given you a hint about how he does it."

Naruto stared at Goku, still getting over the groggy feeling. Thinking it over, Naruto realized he knew very little about Gaara's technique's. "Sorry, I've never asked. They're his techniques and all, and…I…" His brain suddenly began working at that moment, getting him to pause in midsentence. "Wait, that's stupid. Gah, why haven't I asked him yet?! His attacks are kickass!"

"I know, right?" Goku said, bouncing slightly as he thought over trying to use the sand as well.

Naruto nodded, his hands flailing in the air as he imagined him throwing sand around and laughing manically as he shaped it into different techniques. "Yeah! There's so much potential in it, and it's freaking sand! How…wait, hold on." Naruto stopped moving, save for a glance to Goku. "You tried to do it?"

Goku nodded. "Yeah. I hopped out the window and tried mimicking what I thought Gaara did. I did it once after I saw Master Roshi do the Kamehameha, and I was able to make a small one, so I wanted to give it a shot."

"The Kameha-what?" Naruto asked, eyes wide as he leaned forward eagerly. While his initial thought of the first part, 'Turtle', seemed weak, he remembered that Bushy Brow's teacher had first shown up on the back of a turtle. Plus, it had the words 'Devastation Wave' in it; how could he _not_ be interested? "Can you show me?"

"I don't see why not." Goku said, moving to the open window. "Come on, I'll show you out here. We don't want to hurt the house."

Naruto's eyes widened as he followed Goku out after he pulled on his shoes and leapt out the window. Goku was waiting under the window, his smile growing as Naruto landed next to him without hesitation. Motioning for him to follow him, they soon found their way to a small clearing that had signs that someone had been shifting the sands around the area; evidence of Goku's attempts to recreate Gaara's technique. Glancing up, Naruto hummed as he noticed that it was still quite dark out, meaning it was late at night.

Goku hopped into the center of the clearing, sliding his feet apart as he opened and closed his hands slowly. "Alright, keep a close eye on me, okay?"

Naruto nodded, walking to where he had a good position to watch. Sitting at the edge of the 'ring', he leaned forward and watched eagerly in anticipation for what Goku was going to do. Goku, having his 'audience's' attention, slowly began moving his arms to his side as his face shifted to one of concentration as he spoke with authority.

"Ka-me…" A ball of white energy began forming in between his palms, getting Naruto's eyes to widen. "Ha-me…" The ball began letting a low toned noise as it charged up, growing until it was nestled gently in his hands, betraying the destructive force that it was. "Ha!"

Thrusting his arms forward, the ball of energy lurched out of his palms and spiraled forwards into one of the nearby mushroom-trees. With a powerful impact, it left a fist sized mark in it as it kicked up some dust from the impact; not an amazing feat since the trees were rather soft, but it was a hole that went rather deep into it, showing that it _did_ have power behind it. Slowly Naruto got up and inspected the hole, admiring the damage Goku had done to it.

"Huh, I guess I still need some work." Goku said, putting his hands behind his head as he chuckled in lighthearted embarrassment.

"What do you mean it needs work? That was awesome!" Naruto shouted, poking where the attack had impacted the tree in amazement.

Goku nodded, "Yeah, it is. But when Master Roshi used it, he blew up a castle, so I have a ways to go."

One could hear a pin drop as Naruto slowly turned his head to Goku, eyes wide as his mind took that in. He could imagine all the different situations in which blowing up a castle could be viable – usually unnecessary and complete overkill, but viable – but found his thoughts quickly squashed when he remembered he had a 'mission'. Inwardly patting himself on the back for his ability to refocus, he crossed his arms and nodded slowly. "Well yeah. But if he's a master he's probably worked on it for a lot longer then you have."

"Huh, that's true." Goku said, remembering Master Roshi when he'd first met him. "Come to think of it, I didn't think too much about how strong he'd be when I first met him, and then he blew up the castle."

"…why did he blow up a castle?" Naruto asked, curiosity finally eating at him to find out.

"Because he was trying to put out the fire." Goku replied as though that were the most obvious answer.

"What fire?"

"The fire that had consumed the castle, because the Ox king had a wizard cast a fire on it to keep people from coming in." Goku said, remembering the fire mountain only too well. "Master Roshi's Kamehameha _did_ put out the fire, but it destroyed the castle that the fire was on too."

"Wow…" Naruto muttered, leaning back as he thought about how awesome that would be. Grinning widely, he crossed his arms as he thought about something. For some reason, there was something rather familiar about how he'd done that attack. "Hey, how'd you do that?"

"Well, I haven't actually learned it, but this is what I figured out from watching Master Roshi." Goku held out his hands, going through the motions to demonstrate with actions as well as words to help show Naruto what he'd done. "First, he focused his ki into his hands. Then he moved his hands to his side so that he could focus them into a ball. Then, he forced all the ki from the ball into a beam that blasted the castle away."

Naruto watched the motions intently, trying to imagine how that would work. After a second, another memory came to mind.

"_Well…what you have to do is concentrate a lot of chakra into your hands."_

"_Okay! Hnnnn…Chidori!"_

"Holy shit I get it now!" Naruto shouted, patting his pockets wildly for something. Finding a marker he'd hidden in the folds of his pant leg, he popped the cap with his mouth and drew a mark on his palm. Repeating the action to his other palm, he flexed his fingers with a big grin. "It's about focusing power into the palms of your hands!"

Goku's eyebrow rose slightly, pushing himself to his tiptoes as he tried to get a look at what Naruto had drawn. Seeing his friend's curiosity, he turned his palms to show him. In the center of both of his hands, he'd drawn a small spiral with a checkmark-like tick upwards, and a 'point' that came off sharply from the side opposite of the tick mark. It was the symbol on his hiate; the emblem of Konohagakure no Sato. It was also the emblem he'd made the original spiral that Jiraiya had drawn on his palm to help him focus when he was learning the power portion of the Rasengan.

Which is where Naruto had found his inspiration for the Kamehameha; it was like a projectile Rasengan. Everything Goku had said coincided with the Rasengan, and what he'd seen seemed to back it up. Like Goku had said, it required focusing a lot of power into the palms of his hands. When he gathered it he contained it into a ball, and then he unleashed it in a spiral motion. The main difference between the Rasengan and the Kamehameha was that the Kamehameha was more of a drilling attack rather than a grinding attack.

"What's that?" Goku asked, poking Naruto's palms curiously. "Is it some kind of technique?"

"Huh? What no, it's the symbol of my village." Naruto said, staring at his hand with a grin. After a second, his face slowly morphed into a serious look of concentration as he clenched his fist. "…one of my sensei's used it to help me concentrate when learning the Rasengan."

Goku blinked, suddenly realizing that Gaara wasn't the only one with tricks up his sleeve. "The Rasengan?"

Naruto grinned, crossing his hands as he concentration. "Kage bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)." Hearing a small exclamation, Naruto and his clone's grin widened as they theatrically began working on creating the Rasengan. With Naruto containing it, and the clone powering and spinning it, it quickly took shape as the violent ball of doom he now used as his second most used attack behind only his clones. "Rasengan (Spiraling Sphere)."

"Ooh." Goku muttered, staring at the small ball of power in his hands. Like Naruto had with the Kamehameha, Goku's mind broke it down and worked out how he could possibly do it. Unlike with Gaara's sand technique, Goku came to a conclusion with crossed arms. "Hm, ah, I got it! I can't do this."

"…what?" Naruto asked, blinking in surprise.

"Not yet anyways." Goku explained, waving his hand to the clone. "I don't know how to do this yet, so I can't use the Rasengan until I do right?"

"Uh, not exactly." Naruto muttered with a nervous chuckle. "When my sensei did it, he only needed to do it with one hand, but I need to use a clone since I can't concentrate on the power and the control at the same time."

"Oh?" Goku blinked, staring at his hand, then back to Naruto. "How hard is it?"

Naruto grinned, suddenly having a pupil as well as a 'sensei'. "Well that depends. Know where we can get a couple kinds of balls?"

* * *

Bulma yawned as she made her way to the shower, stretching as she prepared herself for the day. She was getting eager to find the final Dragon Ball, her wish soon in her grasp. Admittedly, she'd feel a bit sad to leave her friends when it was all said and done, but she wasn't losing some sleep yet so she figured she'd be fine. Soon she'd have the perfect boyfriend anyways, so she figured it would all be good in the end.

Humming as she made her way into the bathroom, she froze when she saw Hinata standing in front of the mirror looking into the mirror tiredly as she played with her hair idly. Smiling at the younger girl, she slowly stepped in and waved behind her to get her attention. "Need a hand?"

Hinata flinched, sighing softly as she realized she'd been so focused on what she'd been doing that she'd missed Bulma walking in. Under normal circumstances she wouldn't think too much of it, but with how much she was doing that lately it was troubling. "Ah, no thank you Bulma-san."

Bulma hummed softly as she glanced at Hinata from the corner of her eye while starting on her own morning routine. Thinking about how she spoke, she figured she'd ask a question while she had time to ask. "So Hinata, that's an interesting way you're talking. Are you from the east by chance?"

Hinata blinked, unsure of what Bulma was asking. "Um, I'm not sure. I guess you could say that."

"Huh?" Bulma blinked, not sure what to make of Hinata's answer. It didn't make sense to her that Hinata wouldn't know where she was from. Naruto she could see being directionally challenged, Gaara not in the slightest, but Hinata didn't make sense at all. "How do you not know where you're from?"

"Well, you see…" Hinata inwardly wished she didn't feel quite so bad about lying to Bulma. "We got separated from our friends and family, and got lost along the way. To be honest, we aren't sure where we are entirely."

"Oh wow." Bulma said softly, not having imagined that their group had gone through so much. They seemed so young, but then Goku had been living on his own for quite some time before Bulma had found him. Hell, she'd been the second person she'd ever met in his entire life. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's alright. It could be worse after all." Hinata softly smiled, remembering just who she was 'trapped' with. "I'm with someone who cares about getting back, and about keeping me safe."

"Aw, that sounds so cute." Bulma said, grinning at the faint blush on Hinata's face. Being a younger sister, she was finding that playing the 'big sister' type role was rather fun, especially when her experience allowed her to catch onto the small blush and coyly chose her words. "A guy like that, who's my knight in shining armor, defending my honor against evil doers. I wish I had a boyfriend like that."

"Eh?" Hinata's eyes widened upon hearing that. "He's not my…" Hinata glanced away with her blush increasing slightly as her words brought up an image of Naruto protecting her. It was a touching thought, though she knew that she wanted to stand beside Naruto, rather than cower behind her. "I'm not ready for that yet."

"Well, you are really young, so give yourself some time." Bulma said in agreement, getting a confused look from Hinata. "It's something to look forward to, but if you're lucky enough to have someone who you have an eye on and who's not taken, don't give 'em up. It's not like you find the perfect man every day after all."

Hinata nodded slowly in understanding, seeing how it made sense. However, she also knew that currently she didn't have any competition. He might find girls cute on other worlds or in different areas, but in the end she knew he'd have to move on so that he could keep his promise to bring back their world. He would keep moving, and she'd go with him.

That thought made her pause. She hadn't thought much of it at that moment, but she was going to be very close to Naruto, as one of the few girls he'd interact with. There was supposed to be a lot of traveling involved on the ship, which would mean they'd be together quite often. Her face slowly grew redder and redder.

Bulma sighed, envisioning her own 'perfect man'. She could imagine him doing all kinds of things for her, like being there for her like Yamcha had. Smiling at the memory of the embarrassed man who'd helped her get the car they were currently using while she'd been stranded in the desert. He was certainly cute, and she was hoping she'd see him around eventually. As she thought of this, another thought came to mind that made her pause. "Hey Hinata, which boy is it that you like? I mean, Naruto is an interesting kid, but that Gaara could pull off some interesting tricks."

Hinata shivered at that idea, still remembering her first viewing of Gaara's skills. While he'd proven that he could restrain himself from acting on his old habits, she'd seen how strained he'd looked in doing so. Taking their conversation from the night before though, she found herself smiling softly. "No, he's just a good friend."

"…wait, so _Naruto_ is the boy you like?" Bulma asked, unable to see what Hinata saw in him. "What's special about him?"

Hinata could hear the tone of disbelief and slowly sighed. She'd heard this enough before, and she wasn't letting it go that way. Turning to Bulma, she gave her a calm look. "Naruto-kun is far more than people expect him to be. He is kind, and strong. People look down on him a lot, but he is able to push through even the toughest situations. Even though he sometimes had doubts, he knows he's strong and will continue to get stronger as he continues protecting those who are precious to him. I believe in him, and I know he'll only get better as he continues to grow."

Bulma blinked in amazement, having not expected to hear such a passionate rebuttal from the timid girl. Smiling gently, she picked up a brush as she spoke. "Well then, I hope he becomes that guy you see in him. If he's all that, he could be quite the catch."

Smiling gently at her reply, Hinata returned her attention to the mirror to finish up her daily set up. Before she finished, they both jumped as they heard what sounded like a small explosion. Turning to the window, she flung it open and stuck her head out to see if she could spot what had blown up. A short ways away, under one of the trees, Goku was panicking as he was checking up on Naruto who looked like he'd crashed into the tree he was now leaning against.

"Oh no, I killed Naruto!"

"…well, if nothing else things won't be boring around him." Bulma said, hearing what Goku said with a hint of amusement.

Hinata smiled softly, watching as Naruto stirred and began getting up. "No, there won't be."

* * *

Driving down the road again, the small groups sitting arrangement had changed a bit from before. Now, Gaara was sitting on the back of the car, a small gourd nestled on his back that he'd prepared the night before. It wasn't nearly as much as he normally carried, but if he had _that_ gourd it would be nearly as large as he was. He could make more, but he felt more secure with some sand he'd prepared in advance. In the front, Oolong was driving with Goku sitting next to him in the passenger seat. In the back, Hinata was gently trying to help Naruto with some of the cuts he'd gotten, while Bulma sat on his other side staring out of the car to give the girl her space with Naruto. Naruto was grumbling silently as let Hinata tend to him, the backlash from his failed Kamehameha souring his mood a bit.

"I'm sorry Naruto I didn't know that'd happen." Goku said, completely turned around to look at Naruto as he spoke. He looked a bit embarrassed about what had happened, which meant that Naruto didn't feel as mad about it all.

"I'm fine. I just didn't think that using the Kamehameha like that would blow up." Naruto muttered, flexing his hands which had taken the most damage. "I still don't believe that that Master Roshi didn't spin his Kamehameha at all. That hurt way to much when it didn't spin."

Goku nodded, grinning widely. "Yeah, but it's more powerful that way. He charged it into a ball, and then forced it all at the castle. I spin mine because it felt like it held together better that way."

"I can tell." Naruto muttered, wincing as Hinata dabbed a cut on his cheek and pulled away slightly from the pain.

"Please hold still Naruto-kun." Hinata whispered, blushing lightly at being allowed to help him. While she'd initially been hesitant, he hadn't objected and he'd been a remarkably good patient for her.

"Sorry Hinata-chan." Naruto said with a sigh, trying to hold still so that he could heal better. Hinata's balm from the Chunin Exams had proven good, and even now she was doing a remarkably good job at helping him. She had already finished on his hands, and he could actually fell most of them already.

Bulma blinked, pulled into the conversation as what they were saying suddenly seemed relevant to her. "Wait, you were trying to learn the Kamehameha? From Goku? But…but he barely knows it as it is!"

"So?" Naruto huffed, crossing his arms as he grinned to Goku. "He's been an awesome teacher! Better than some of my others even. I learned a lot about how to use the Kamehameha…even if I can't use the dumb thing yet. I will get it eventually! Dattebayo!"

"Datte…bayo?" Bulma muttered, ignoring it as she pointed out another thing he'd said. "Other teachers? What kind of teachers were they?"

Naruto grinned, slowly ticking off the people who'd taught him in the past. "Well, there was Iruka-sensei, he was awesome but so boring. Then I was taught by Kakashi-sensei, who was always late and read perverted books. He's pretty cool, but…" Naruto frowned as he thought about what he'd learned. "All I've learned from him was how to climb trees. There was the closet pervert, but he didn't get to teach me much since he was knocked out by Ero-sennin while he was teaching me water walking. Ooh, and then I had Ero-sennin teach me. He taught me the Rasengan and how to…"

All at, he paused and hummed in frustration. Reviewing everything he'd learned, he was suddenly noticing a rather annoying pattern; everyone who'd ever taught him had only taught him one technique. While Jiraiya _had_ taught him summoning, that was less him teaching him and more him letting him sign the contract so that he could summon the toads. In fact, most of the people who taught him had never actually been present when he'd been training. The only exception was the closet pervert Ebisu, and he'd been knocked out by a toad when he'd tried getting Jiraiya to stop peeping on the girl's side of the hot spring.

Gaara blinked, glancing down at Naruto. He'd lost to someone whose instruction was that vague? True he was like him, but even so it sounded like he'd had little to no instruction in any sort of techniques. Thinking about it, he noticed one technique that wasn't part on Naruto's list. "What about your clones? Who taught you that?"

"I did." Naruto said, somewhat proudly. "I'd been told I'd graduate if I stole the Scroll of Seals and learned a technique by Mizuki-sensei, so I picked the one that would impress him and Iruka-sensei the most. The clone jutsu was my worst jutsu, but with shadow clones I've gotten really good at using them."

Feeling the hands on him clench slightly, Naruto glanced to Hinata. Hinata's eyes were wide, confusion clearly evident in her eyes. "Mizuki-sensei asked you to do that?"

Despite how 'obvious' it was to the others who were looking at her, Naruto didn't quite catch why she was looking at him like that. "Well yeah. He was trying to steal the scroll, and was using me to try and get it. Luckily Iruka-sensei first, hehe, he wasn't all that happy about that." Smiling, he leaned back as he remembered the scared chunin. "But after we'd run around for a bit, Iruka tricked Mizuki, and acknowledged me. Then I popped out, made a ton of clones, and beat the crap out Mizuki."

Hinata and Gaara nodded, both of them more than able to see Naruto doing that for someone who'd shown him respect. Hinata because she knew him, and Gaara because he'd been on the receiving end of Naruto defending his friends before. It still was surprising to think that Naruto had basically been self-taught on his 'strongest' technique, even more so that it had come from a scroll that was supposed to carry their villages forbidden and more difficult techniques.

Naruto turned back to Gaara, curious to hear how he'd been trained. "Hey, hey Gaara, who's taught you your techniques?"

"Hm." Gaara eyed the group slowly, noting that Goku and Bulma both were taking more interest in what he was saying. Already knowing that they wouldn't be able to do much knowing how he was trained, he decided to give them an abridged version of how he'd learned his techniques. "I was born with my ability to manipulate sand, it was always protecting me from all kinds of harm, and allowed me to control it to do various things. I had a few teachers that taught me boujutsu and some techniques with other weapons as well to keep the variety.

"With some help from Baki-sensei, I got ahold of some scrolls that I studied. Mainly, I studied Suiton (Water Release) techniques since my sand acted somewhat like water, and from there I've developed several techniques based on them. Even my Suna Bunshin was based off of Mizu Bunshin in concept before I made it my own." Gaara finished, glancing between them all. Mentioning Suiton would only make sense to the other two with them, but even knowing that they wouldn't truly be able to do anything about that.

"…holy crap." Naruto muttered. Having faced someone who used Suiton before – Momochi Zabuza – he knew how powerful some of those kinds of attacks could be. To have a sand variant meant that it didn't matter if you weren't anywhere near sand as long as Gaara could get his hands on it you were royally screwed. "Man, you'd probably be an awesome teacher with all of that."

Gaara inwardly sighed, knowing that while he'd begun getting some leeway in his village, that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. They wouldn't be back to their village any time soon, and it wasn't like he had anyone…blinking, he stared down at Naruto. He mulled over his new thought, but decided to hold off on saying anything. He wanted to be certain he'd given himself enough time before committing to his idea.

Before he could change the subject to ask some questions of his own, Goku had noticed something and decided to ask questions himself. "Why are you carrying around that thing on your back?"

Everyone's eyes were back on Gaara, and he sighed. "Carrying around sand in a gourd like this lets me keep sand that is pre-prepared so I'm not wasting energy every time I use a technique."

Goku perked up at that, wishing he could reach over and poke the gourd curiously. Instead, he just stared at it in confusion. "It looks really weird to me."

Bulma glanced to the gourd as well, confused as well by the gourd. "Where did you get that thing anyway?"

"I made it." Gaara said idly, shifting the lesser weighted gourd on his back. It was still a bit strange with the lesser weight, but he could make do with it. "I spent the time I had last night making it so that I could be ready for anything later."

"Hey, why didn't you make it into a backpack or something?" Goku asked, getting several looks of confusion. "What? If he made it, he could've made it look like a backpack. You know, like some of those traveling people, or a shell like Master Roshi was wearing."

"Hm, well I guess that'd be interesting." Bulma admitted, looking between the two of them. "I mean, backpacks are normal for people to wear, so it wouldn't be too weird to see you with one. Maybe a hiking backpack or something, so you could hold more or something…"

Gaara slowly blinked, taking in that information. Thinking it over, it did make sense to have something casual that anyone could have. Thinking over what Yuuko had told him, suddenly he'd found a way to keep his sand techniques by hiding it in something more inconspicuous. Wondering how he'd missed that, he closed his eyes and sighed through his nose, a frown on his face as he thought it over.

"_I really hate space."_ Gaara thought, figuring that the week they'd spent there had taken it out of him and the rest of them. _"…then again, it's only been a week. And yet Goku, a child, was able to think of something far more inconspicuous in less than a day then I did in a week. I need to up my training as soon as I can, and switch out the sand in this for my sand from my gourd."_

As he was thinking this over, he noticed a gleam in the corner of his eye. As one of the only two people who were still looking forward, he was one of the only ones who saw it. Eyes widening, he threw out his hands and commanded his sand to shield where he saw it coming from. "Get down."

Naruto and Hinata didn't need a second hint, ducking and covering as the shield rose over them. Bulma, Goku, and Oolong weren't quite as fortunate, not realizing what Gaara was implying before it was too late. While Gaara had prepared his sand, it didn't stand as much a chance as he'd imagined as the object impacted the sand and blew it away, knocking the car off the road into a ditch and flinging all of them out of the car just as it rolled over.

"What happened?" Oolong asked, his face buried in the sand.

"Uh, we got blown up." Goku replied, staring at the car. Hearing something from above them, he glanced up. "What's that?"

From the mushroom-trees above, a metallic figure dropped down and landed on the car. "I've come to repossess your Dragon Balls." Flipping it over, it rummaged through the luggage it contained until it popped open a briefcase and found what it was looking for. Pulling out the suitcase with the five golden balls, it put them into a compartment in it as it turned around to address them all. "Thank you, and so long suckers! The Balls are – holy crap!"

Before it could finish a wave of sand shot forward and attempted to grab it. Gaara motioned his hands, trying to catch it and grapple the metallic figure so that it wouldn't get away. Before he could get him though, it suddenly shot upwards with fire coming out of a pack on his back. Reaching the top of the mushroom-trees, it began hopping away while hooting like a madman. Getting a ways away, it raised its hand.

"You know the bosses orders, get 'em!"

Before any of them could question what was going on, several shadows rushed towards them and rose up around them. The three ninja narrowed their eyes, ignoring the fleeing figure as they focused on the more eminent threat. Naruto snapped his hand the side, a flash of light surrounding his hand as his Keyblade formed in his hand. "Heartless."

The Heartless took shape, surprisingly not the blob-type shape that was the original forms. Like with the helmed Heartless, these had taken on a different form; each were human-like, though their faces were similar to the original Heartless with only one 'antenna' rather than two, with a purple gi on each of them. They all bounced on their toes, making a 'come at me' motion with the hands in front of them while their other bobbed beside them as though awaiting a fight; all offense, no defense.

Nodding to each other, the four combatant heavy members of the group gathered themselves together with their weapons of choice. Naruto with his Keyblade, Goku with his Power Pole, Gaara with sand floating around him, and Hinata in a defensive Jyuuken stance. Before Hinata moved, the sand at her feet pulled together and rose up towards her. She stared down it as the sand consolidated into a thin, slightly rough bo staff that gently moved into her hands. Glancing to Gaara, she nodded slightly in acknowledgement before utilizing the Jyuuken stance with the staff in hand.

Shooting forward into the middle of them, they began tearing apart the ranks of Heartless while Gaara attacked from the sides. Naruto bobbed and weaved through the flurry of attacks, their swings being wild and uncoordinated more so than even Naruto's regular attacks. Were Lee there, he would have likely torn through them without mercy with his far superior taijutsu. Naruto was more than capable of avoiding their slow and sloppy techniques, Keyblade slipping through their non-existent defenses and destroying them in bursts of light and shadows. He was having a good time, finally a superior combatant than his opponent rather than being outmatched. Turning to look to his friends, his eyes widened in surprise.

Goku was a force to be reckoned with. At the start Goku had been hesitant about it, not wanting to intentionally harm people. Once he'd realized that their opponents weren't human or in any way natural, the boy had picked up his game and was tearing through their ranks without need for mercy. The Power Pole slammed through the Heartless like a hot knife, none of them able to stand up to the young man's assault. More surprisingly was that when some of the Heartless tried to dodge back, the pole extended further and pierced through them. Truly a force of power to be reckoned with.

On the other hand, Hinata was sliding through the ranks like water and lightning. She slipped past any and all attacks, and then with precision and power struck her way through the Heartless. It seemed a bit harder with her sand pole than with the Power Pole, but she made it work to her advantage. Sweeping the legs out from under one, she ducked down and let another trip over her and fell on their 'ally' before striking the Harmless on the back and pulling it so that it was tucked under her arm behind her back. Spinning on her heels, she knocked one that was charging behind her in one smooth motion. It was like watching someone striking using Jyuuken with a staff; elegant, but dangerous as hell.

As he turned back, he flinched when a shadow rose over him and he felt the presence of a Heartless right behind him. He shouldn't have ignored his surroundings, and now because he had he was going to pay for it. Right before it connected with him though, a stream of sand pierced it and threw it away from him. Glancing back, he realized that Gaara was clearing a path around him in the direction of where the metal man. Their eyes connected for a second, and Gaara nodded. "Naruto, go."

Naruto nodded, letting his Keyblade disappear as his hands formed a cross-shaped hand seal. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)!"

With a small group of clones appearing around him, he had them scatter and tackle the Heartless that were trying to sneak up on his friends while he ran up a mushroom-tree and began giving chase. Gritting his teeth when he realized how far behind he was, he began channeling chakra into his legs to propel him forward faster. It still took a bit of time for him to catch up, which meant that it was almost at wherever it was trying to go since it was beginning to slow down. Forming more clones, he had them rush forward faster with him to take it down and get back the case.

Before he could get close enough to even touch it, he heard a sharp crack that caused his ear to twitch slightly. He dove behind one of the mushroom heads, flinching when he felt as much as he saw the clone that had been in midair was struck by the oncoming projectile. A second later, the air was filled with shots being fired from someone who was picking off his poor clones who were trying to figure out where the shooter was. Within just a few moments, all of his clones were mere puffs of smoke being blown away in the wind, with Naruto holding the different parts of his chest where his clones had been struck; likely in sympathy pain since even the graze to his ear he could tell the power behind the weapon.

He also knew that, "I really hate guns."

He could hear someone laughing at him, likely the metal man. Growling at the fact that he couldn't go after them until he could figure out a way to avoid the gun, he summoned his Keyblade in a vague manner of betting something for eventual offense. As he did so, a thought crossed his mind; the Keyblade was made for him. Unlike other weapons, it didn't impair his abilities much at all and allowed him to defend as much as attack. Without needing a summoning seal or chakra to summon, he could still summon it and release it without more than a thought giving him a chance to use his hands freely for attacks and jutsu. Plus, the bronze was almost an orange-ish color which helped solidify his opinion.

Best. Sword. Ever.

Hearing an odd whining sound, he peaked his head warily around the mushroom. Seeing another metal object moving away from him, he blinked owlishly and slowly pushed himself up. Leaping after it, he watched as the thing began taking off into the air like a bird. Tilting his head, he glanced down and flinched when he saw the metal man standing beneath him. Leaping down in front of him, he whipped around and jabbed his finger at him and growled. "Hey you, where do you think you're…huh?"

When he finally got the man in view, he realized something was off. The metal man wasn't truly full metal, but was in fact hollow. Moving slowly closer to it, he poked it slowly before hopping in to check out what was inside it. Turning and taking a seat in the rather cushiony chair that was placed inside it, he slowly began messing with the things inside it. It clearly had been made so that even the simplest of people could use it, even without knowing what all the other buttons were. They even had little doodles around them which helped show which buttons did what in case he didn't know what everything was. Convenient.

Noticing the button next to an image that seemed to be emanating fire from two cylindrical forms, Naruto remembered how the metal man had taken off to get up to the top of the trees to get away from Gaara. Thinking it over, he stared up at the metal bird-like thing that was flying away and then back to the button. Making the motion once more, he pushed the button that looked like the glass lens that he'd crawled over, surprised to see it rise up to seal him in. Slowly, pushing a peddle near his feet, he was rewarded with the metal man moving forwards. Staring up at the flying metal object, he slowly curled his lips into a feral grin.

The chase was on.

* * *

AN: And the story is now beginning its progression headfirst into Pilaf's castle. Yahoo! This is gonna get fun~

Now, first thing...yes. As in, hell yes. Why yes? Imagine the awesome. What am I repeatedly saying yes to? The Turtle Devastation Wave...how could I _not_ teach Naruto that? However, that being said, there _are_ a few things worth noting about this development;

1. After rewatching that episode of Dragon Ball to make sure I wasn't imagining it, I realized that Goku's first Kamehameha isn't quite like Roshi's or his later ones. There's something of a spiral to it, which to me implies to me he wasn't powerful enough to use it with power alone; he needed a 'shortcut' similar to what Naruto needed to use to first get the Rasengan down.

2. Naruto's later got to use it without the spiral (no kidding) and Naruto later didn't need to use clones for his Rasengan. This means Naruto doesn't have it down already, and that he'll need some practice to get it down. He's going to want to use the _real_ Kamehameha, not a knock off in the end.

3. I want you to just imagine something; Goku, using the Rasengan...that is all.

Alright, now that I've talked about that, I'm quickly going to say something else; can you not imagine that the Jyuuken could be used with a staff, or at least modified so that they can use it in the same style? Seriously. Either that or a naginata, which would make sense seeing how Hinata is considered of 'noble' lineage, and is a clan heiress. Learning even the basics would make sense, so that's why she can fight with it. Why though...you'll see.

With Gaara, I'd like to quickly thank Sebazu for reminding me of Gaara's abilities and giving me the idea to have Goku point out something that (to me) seems obvious. Having Gaara keep his sand around in the form of a backpack means he'll be able to not look to out of place in most worlds, and the idea of perhaps adding a Henge over it give it some different texture/coloring isn't bad either.

And for the final bit...Naruto won't like guns. Honestly, it's something I felt should happen, since weapons and things like that _could_ be taken between worlds. Knowing Naruto, he'd want to get his hands on certain things that seemed like they were beyond awesome, which could get him in a lot of trouble. Plus, whenever he gets to a place with guns, I'll have some fun with tormenting Naruto with guns, bullets, and anything he couldn't dodge without some way of tracking the bullets before they're fired. *coughOnePiececoughcough*

Till we see Naruto and the gang have more fun facing Pilaf, Guru out.


End file.
